The summer mood came to an abrupt end on the Dublin market yesterday as 3.3 per cent was wiped off the value of Irish shares in a shift led by programme selling.

The biggest victims in the mass sell-off were the financials, which came under pressure across the continent. In Dublin, AIB gave up 66 cents to close at €12.05, with dealers noting good support at €12.

The stock has lost almost one-tenth of its value in the last week, illustrating the significance of the now-dead Eurostoxx 500 speculation.

Fellow Eurostoxx candidate, Bank of Ireland, also saw heavy selling yesterday, with 8.8 million shares changing hands. The stock closed down 61 cents at €11.20.

In relation to other financials, Irish Life & Permanent went with the downward flow, losing 24 cents to close at €12.78, and First Active was also hit, finishing 15 cents lighter at €4.80.

Dealers suggested that news of a competition probe into the Irish banking sector was of no benefit to financial stocks in an already bearish market.

Elsewhere, unsurprising results at CRH failed to lift the stock, which closed unchanged at €14.55. Kerry, also delivering results in line with forecasts yesterday, was worse hit, shedding 46 cents in the melee to reach €14.90.

Ryanair came under pressure too, despite delivering good passenger numbers early in the day. The stock closed at €5.35, down 52 cents, in line with negative sentiment towards the airline sector.

Elsewhere, good volumes in Waterford Wedgwood pushed the stock down one cent to 57 cents, while the sale of 6.9 million shares in Galen took 38 cents off the stock, which ended the day at €6.52.