The Dublin market fell sharply yesterday, following other international markets which had begun to soften on Friday. The financial stocks were generally the hardest hit. Dealers also said there was a lot of nervousness in the markets ahead of today's

Humphrey-Hawkins testimony when Mr Alan Greenspan, the Federal

Reserve chairman, will report to Congress on the state of the US

economy. Last December Mr Greenspan sent international stock markets into turmoil when he warned investors against over-exuberance.

AIB closed 14p down on its previous price, finishing at 568p. Bank of Ireland saw 19p knocked off its share price, finishing at 806p.

Irish Life fell 8p, closing at 362p, while Irish Permanent lost 10p to close at 650p.

Irish Continental was down 5p at 760p. However, Anglo-Irish Bank closed up 1p at 93p.

Smurfit's share price slipped 11p at 213p, which one analyst attributed partly to its very strong US shareholder connections. CRH

lost 11p to finish at 670p.

Dealers said trading volume was relatively light compared to recent days. "It was a combination of profit-taking and a weak market," said one trader.

Some of the second liners fared better. United Drug was up 10p at

435p, while Kingspan was up 10p at 840p.

Waterford Foods, which held its a.g.m. yesterday, saw its share price rise 5p on the day to finish at 165p. Avonmore, which held its e.gm. to approve the proposed merger, did not trade. Kerry closed up

5p at 625p, while Golden Vale slipped 1p to 77p. Greencore was down

2p at 325p.

One dealer forecast that the Dublin market would remain soft in the short-term. "The market will be driven by what happens in Wall

Street, which in turn will drive Europe and London," said the dealer.

In the exploration stocks Arcon closed unchanged at 50p and

Tullow as also unchanged at 11p.