The Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) closed at noon on Thursday and will remain shut Friday following warnings from the Government over the severe weather.
In a statement, the ISE said the decision was taken due to warnings from the Government's National Emergency Coordination Committee and Met Éireann in relation to the "severe weather-related nationwide status red warning".
The ISE also said the move was designed to “protect against any potential risk to market integrity in these exceptional circumstances”.
A spokeswoman for the ISE said the risk to market integrity stemmed from the reduced level of activity, which could distort trading.
“There is a widespread closure of businesses and significantly reduced participation in the Irish market expected today [Thursday] and tomorrow due to the Government’s severe weather warnings,” she said.
“In these exceptional circumstances the decision was taken to close the market today in order to ensure fair price formation, investor protection and the delivery of market integrity.”
Unexpected move
An analyst with Davy Stockbrokers said the move was "unexpected" as many of the companies listed on the ISE are also listed on the London Stock Exchange.
“It was an unexpected close,” he said. “A lot of the Irish stocks are dual-listed so there will still be trading in the likes of CRH, Ryanair and all of those stocks that trade on the London Stock Exchange.
“We are open for business. It’s comparable to an Irish bank holiday where the Irish market is closed but European and London exchanges are open.”
The market will remain closed on Friday but is expected to reopen as normal on Monday.
A number of companies posted results before the market closed. CRH finished the day up just under 1 per cent, AIB shares closed down, while Total Produce finished the day about 2 per cent lower.
