Irish technology shares took a beating on the US market last night, along with other shares on the NASDAQ market, which suffered its fourth biggest ever fall in percentage terms, dropping by 8.57 per cent. Esat, which hit over $44 (£30.90) earlier this year, was down by over 25 per cent in value yesterday, dropping $7 1/2 to $21 1/2 by yesterday's close.
Iona, which fell 12 per cent last Thursday during Wall Street's worst performance of last week, was down another 15.9 per cent, with a $3 7/8 fall to $20 1/2. This compares with its high of over $40 a few months ago.
CBT was also marked down heavily and was trading down over 9 per cent on the day, falling $4 3/4 lower at just over $47 late last night, a fall of nearly 9 per cent. Meanwhile, Elan dropped by $6 1/2 to $58 1/2.
Earlier, the Irish market continued to suffer from the Russia-inspired unrest on international market, and the ISEQ Index fell by over 90 points to 4275, its lowest-point since the middle of January. Dealers said, however, that volumes were low with most investors content to sit on the sidelines given the paucity of buyers. However heavy selling is likely as the market opens this morning, following the Dow's late fall.
Financial stocks all fell sharply yesterday, but the biggest factor in the 2 per cent fall in the index was the heavy fall of Elan shares on NASDAQ, where technology and pharmaceutical shares took a battering. Elan makes up 11 per cent of the Irish market and the ISEQ is adjusted to reflect its price movement in New York.
