Jittery investors force banks to retreat

Dublin report:Investors continued to shy away from Irish stocks on a day when the financials led an overall decline in the market's value.

The overall fall of about 1.38 per cent was one of the worst performances in Europe, where indices were generally finishing about one quarter of 1 per cent down on the day. Dealers said Ireland's status as a peripheral market was continuing to put jittery investors off. "There's also a sense that the Irish story is done for the time being," one said.

AIB actually slipped below the €20 mark during trade yesterday, but recovered some ground to close 26 cent off at €20.13. Around 3.25 million shares in the bank were sold in the Dublin market yesterday. Traders said investors believe the bank may be dropped from the Eurostox 50 index of leading European shares next month. Bank of Ireland also endured a torrid day, slipping 27 cent to close at €14.65 after more than 3.35 million shares changed hands.

Another leading Irish stock, CRH, suffered on continuing negative sentiment towards the dollar - the US is responsible for half its turnover - and dropped 79 cent or 2.12 per cent to close at €36.54, making it one of the biggest losers on the day.

Another significant loser was food group, IAWS, which fell 70 cent or 4.46 per cent to end the day at €15. Almost two million of the company's shares changed hands.

Tullow Oil was responsible for one of the few shreds of corporate news in Ireland yesterday. And while it issued a positive trading statement, it dropped 12 cent to €7.65 as investors sought to take some profit.

One of the few gains yesterday was drinks group C&C, which added two cent to close at €10. Food ingredients player, Kerry Group, was another winner, adding 47 cent to €21.09.