Irish shares drifted into negative territory following another jittery day on Wall Street and in London. Volumes were low, with Dublin simply mirroring the FTSE which had a quiet day after a turbulent start to trading on Wall Street.

AIB provided the main focus for the day after it bought back 5.6 million of its own shares on the market at 575p per share, at a total cost of £32.2 million.

Some dealers expressed surprise at the price offered for the shares, which was 12p higher than the 563p closing price on Thursday. By the close the stock had unwound that gain and closed flat at 563p a share.

The main industrials also experienced some weakness. CRH closed down about 5 1/2p at 723p a share from a sterling close at 688p.

Smurfit also lost 6p, closing at 205p a share.

Dealers also noted that New Ireland failed to trade after it eventually confirmed that it was up for sale. The share was bid at £16 while the offer was at £21, implying that it is valued at around £210 million.

Among the smaller companies, Crean saw a bit of a bounce, closing up 10p at 160p; earlier this week it lost 20p after announcing poor results.

Galen, the new pharmaceutical company on the ISEQ, lost 4p to close at 284p a share. Dealers said most trade was still going through London.