With international markets reversing their recent gains due to renewed worries over US interest rates, financial shares took the brunt of the selling pressure in Dublin yesterday.

The three big financial shares all closed lower, with AIB down 30 cents on €10.70, Bank of Ireland down 27 cents on €7.00 and Irish Life down 10 cents on €9.80. Sentiment towards financial shares in general has soured since Bank of Ireland produced disappointing results last week.

First Active continued to spiral downwards despite expectations that its merger proposal with Anglo Irish will be unveiled later this week. Down 5 cents on €2.05, First Active is now all the way back to its level

before the merger speculation drove the shares up 20 per cent last week. Anglo Irish was 2 cents easier on €2.55, but may come under pressure if the market deems the merger with Anglo Irish too advantageous to First Active.

Eircom also reversed recent gains and lost 10 cents to €3.87, although CRH was unchanged on €19.90. Fyffes lost 5 cents to €1.88 and Greencore was down 10 cents at €2.85 as Mr Dermot Desmond disclosed that he has increased his stake to 11.2 per cent. Independent was 5 cents firmer on €8.70. Ryan Hotels was 5 cents easier on €1.00 after it emerged that Israeli group Red Sea Hotels had snapped up a 16.6 per cent stake.

Baltimore continued to suffer from a hangover after the recent selling by Mr Fran Rooney and Mr Henry Beker, losing 47p in London to £5.23 and, at midday on the Nasdaq, trading $1 3/4 lower on $15 1/2.