The Irish stock market lost more than 1 per cent yesterday but outperformed most of its European peers as fears of war in Iraq continued to weigh on equity markets worldwide.
Despite a dismal performance by most European banking stocks, AIB and Bank of Ireland managed to hold their own, providing much-needed support to the ISEQ index.
Dealers said volumes generally were patchy except for the two banks. AIB closed just three cents lower at 12.57 as three million shares traded while Bank of Ireland was off 20 cents to €9.45 on volume of nearly four million.
The bank's now daily confirmation that it had been buying shares appeared again as it said it purchased 500,000 shares on Tuesday at €9.78 per share. To date, it has bought back more than 1 per cent of its share capital as part of its rolling buyback programme.
Other leading stocks fared even better. CRH, which began trading ex-dividend, managed to add 12 cents to 12.70 while Irish Life & Permanent shrugged off the overseas weakness to also close 12 cents higher at 8.70.
Ryanair fell victim to the growing international unease, however, closing 24 cents lower at 5.10. Other losers included Elan, off 20 cents to 3.00 and Galen, which lost 16 cents to 4.76.
IAWS added just two cents to 6.95 despite reporting better-than-expected first-half earnings growth. Horizon Technology gained seven cents to 0.35 as the market welcomed news that the company is now cash positive. Dealers reported heavier-than-average volume in Gresham with around 435,000 shares changing hands as the shares lost six cents to 0.60.
