Renewed fears of interest rate rises on both sides of the Atlantic weighed heavily on equity markets, but Dublin managed to avoid the worst of the weakness which saw Wall Street down over 100 points as the Irish closed for the weekend.
Highlights were few in Dublin where trading volumes were low. But Irish Life & Permanent was probably the best performer, jumping 25 cents to €10.80 (£8.51) as the market remains enthused by the prospect of a bid for Ulster Bank.
AIB also rebounded after its recent weakness and was 16 cents firmer on €11.43 (£9.00) while Bank of Ireland was unchanged on €7.65 (£6.02).
Industrials were mixed with Eircom rising as high as €4.13 (£3.25) before edging back to close up 2 cents on the day on €4.10 (£3.23). CRH was two cents firmer on €18.00 (£14.18) although Smurfit drifted 1 1/2 cents lower to €2.76 1/2 (£2.18). Secondliners to fall included Arnotts - down 20 cents to €7.30 (£5.75), Jurys - down 25 cents to €8.40 (£6.62) and Tullow - down seven cents to €0.90 (£0.71).
Despite rushing to reassure that its operations are a totally different to those of Debonair - the first casualty in the British no-frills airline battle -
Ryanair lost 30 cents to €8.50 (£6.79).
The weakness in New York had a depressing effect on Nasdaq newcomer Trintech which was trading almost $1 lower as the Dublin market closed on $12.25 - uncomfortably close to its flotation price of $11.55. Earlier on the Neuer Markt, Trintech shares fell 60 cents to €11.70 (£9.21), just 20 cents above the €11.50 flotation price and a long way off the €15.99 (£12.59) post flotation high.
