Quiet was the key word for the market yesterday as a lack of local news and the effects of a bank holiday in the US on Monday made for lacklustre trading.
The index closed down just over 1 per cent as its main members, the financials and CRH, all put in negative performances. Dealers said volumes across the board were muted.
United Drug was one of the few gainers, adding 8 cent, or 2.1 per cent, to close at €3.98. Dealers have reported significant interest in the stock in recent times and this demand has helped push the shares higher.
Yesterday Merrion Stockbrokers also revealed it had chosen United Drug to replace C&C in its 10-stock model portfolio, a fund which is known as a strong performer in the Irish market.
Elsewhere the story was negative, with AIB leading the way for the financials. The stock fell 45 cent, or 2 per cent, to €22.20.
Bank of Ireland was down 25 cent, or 1.4 per cent, at €17.15, while Anglo, the busiest of the banks with 2.1 million units changing hands, slipped 12 cent to close at €15.78.
Greencore closed down 5 cent, or 1.1 per cent, at €4.50, a move dealers said was in line with market sentiment rather than a reaction to the news that the food group had submitted proposals to Cork County Council for a €500 million development on its former sugar plant at Mallow.
C&C gave up some of the ground it had recovered in the previous two days following a substantial drop last week. The shares dropped 23 cent, or 1.9 per cent, to end the day at €12.12.
One of the few newsmakers of the day was Readymix. Despite releasing a positive trading update forecasting a 28 per cent gain in full-year pretax profit the shares were little changed, up just 1 cent at €2.70.
