With international markets weaker on the belief that US interest rates may be on their way up, share price in Dublin lost another 1 per cent with even Telecom suffering from the malaise.

While Telecom lost 15 cents to €4.85 (£3.82), dealers said there was still strong demand for the shares although institutional investors have indicated they are not willing to chase the shares to unrealistic levels. Once again there was heavy trading - more than 35 million shares in London alone where Telecom closed 11 cents easier on €4.90 (£3.86).

Elsewhere, financial shares fell in line with the overall tone in European financial shares, with AIB down 11 cents on €12.98 (£10.22) while Bank of Ireland went as low as €8.70 (£6.85) before rebounding to close down just three cents on the day on €8.81 (£6.94). Anglo Irish lost eight cents to €2.35 (£1.85) while First Active's recent good run came to an end with the shares down 15 cents on €3.55 (£2.80).

CRH saw some early selling as low as €18.00 (£14.18) before a sharp rebound from a severely oversold position saw the shares close down 17 cents on the day on €18.46 (£14.54). Greencore recovered slightly after Thursday's heavy sell-off but only managed to gain three cents to €2.83 (£2.23) while Glanbia slipped back by five cents to €1.28 (£1.01).

Ryanair was one of the few to rise on the day, adding 20 cents to €10 (£7.88) while Esat recovered from Thursday's sharp fall on NASDSAQ and was trading $2 1/2 higher around $39 as the Irish market closed.