Irish shares closed lower yesterday, affected by the weaker trend in overseas markets on an otherwise quiet day.

In London, leading shares were hit by a poor sales update from Marks & Spencer and weakness in the mining sector.

US stocks remained jittery as a surprisingly large rise in US consumer prices last month fed fears of a rate rise.

In Dublin, dealers said the downward drift in the ISEQ was led by the financial stocks which closed lower in light volume.

AIB lost 11 cents to €12.58 with just 1.75 million shares traded, while Bank of Ireland dropped 13 cents to €10.55 as volume fell short of 1.3 million shares.

Anglo Irish Bank also closed lower. It lost 16 cents to €13.14.

Irish Life & Permanent was down 20 cents to €13.80.

Leading industrials had a lacklustre day.

CRH off one cent at €17.54, while Ryanair added five cents to €5.35.

Nearly three million Eircom shares changed hands as the stock closed one cent lower at €1.44.

Kerry Group proved one of the stronger performers, gaining 20 cents to €15.85, as dealers said it benefited from a recent company roadshow.

Elsewhere in the food sector, IAWS did not fare so well, losing 25 cents to €9.45.

Greencore also gave up eight cents to €3.12.

Iona, which releases first-quarter results later today, lost 25 cents or 3.4 per cent to €7.05, ahead of the figures.

Horizon Technology Group also remained weak, losing eight cents or 8 per cent to €0.91.

For the second day in a row, there was heavy volume in Arcon with more than six million shares traded.

However, the stock was little changed as dealers said it was moving in line with sector weakness.

Among the companies in play, Barlo shares closed one cent higher at €0.47.

Hotel group Gresham was unchanged at €1.20.

Dublin ReportSettlement Day: April 19th