With the Xetra electronic trading system shut down thanks to the German holiday, dealers in Dublin were faced with a return to the chalk and duster method of recording trades. Not surprisingly, most dealers decided to stay in the electronic age and did most of their business in Irish stocks through London. Trading volumes in Dublin were virtually non-existent.
In London, Irish bank shares weakened further after the heavy profit-taking on Monday with AIB down eight cents on €11.64 in turnover of 1.9 million shares. Bank of Ireland also dealt in size, with 2.4 million shares changing hands as the share closed down 13 cents on €8.20.
After the heavy overnight fall by Smurfit Stone following its downgrading by Paine Webber, Jefferson Smurfit was six cents lower at €1.93 in Dublin and lost 4 1/2p to 114p sterling in London in turnover of 650,000 shares. Smurfit Stone fell 17 per cent overnight on Nasdaq after being removed from Paine Webber's list of "highlighted stocks" but stabilised in the opening session yesterday and was trading 22 cents higher on $10.12.
Paine Webber analysts said that the outlook for "the industry has grown more cloudy. The single biggest negative is the strength of the dollar". They also noted a "slowing in the upward movement in paper prices" during the third quarter.
Technology shares were generally firmer, the best being Parthus - up 14 1/2p to 291p sterling in London - and SmartForce - up $1.31 by midday on Nasdaq on $46.25.
Elan remained firm after more upgrades and was trading in size just below its $58.87 all-time high.
