Share prices fell sharply on the Irish market and the short-term prognosis does not look promising, given the heavy selling on New York after European markets closed. There were exceptions to the negative tone but overall fund managers do not want to increase their equities exposure until there is some sign that the TMT collapse has come to an end.

Bank of Ireland was the exception to the downward trend, trading in big volumes - 7.6 million shares in London and 2.4 million in Dublin - as the price jumped 15 cents to €9.45. AIB, however, slumped 50 cents to €12.43 while Irish Life & Permanent was down 10 cents on €12.55. Irish Life & Permanent bought back another 1.25 million shares yesterday at €12.62, after the 2.75 million it bought back at €12.65 on Wednesday,

Elan rarely trades in size in Dublin so it was noteworthy to see more than two million shares go through the Irish market as the share eased €1.00 to €62.00. In New York later, Elan was trading almost 3 per cent higher on $54.69 as investors moved out of technology into more stable sectors like pharmaceuticals.

Concern over the Eircell/Vodafone deal weighed heavily on Eircom, which fell another 19 cents to €2.58 in turnover of almost seven million shares in Dublin and London. Greencore results - although in line with forecasts - failed to impress the market and the share fell as low as €2.35 before closing 13 cents lower on €2.45.