IRISH stocks closed weaker but above their low point for the day as European equity markets failed to react dramatically to the 97 point overnight fall on Wall Street.
The fact that the Dow rallied after the overselling on Wednesday helped the European markets, and dealers do not expect the market to fall much further.
AIB, which traded heavily on Wednesday, closed 41/2p lower on 349p while Bank of Ireland closed on 462p sterling after opening weakly from its overnight 455p.
Other financials were also weaker, with Irish Permanent coming off its all time high and closing down 2p on 400p while Irish Life was 1p easier on 244p.
Smurfit lost just 1p to 160p benefiting from a resilient performance overnight from JS Corp, which fell just cents to $10.50. CRH dealt down 5p to 458p before closing with a 472p sterling late deal while Fyffes was 2p lower on 105p. Jurys failed to benefit from results which were at the upper end of market forecasts and lost 2p to 233p.
Shares going against the trend included Flogas up 12p to 232p, IAWS up 2p to a new high of 134p, Grafton up 5p to 455p and Golden Vale up 1p to 71p. Elan lost 87 cents on Wall Street to close on $50.75.
Gilts were largely unchanged with dealers still focusing their attention on the US bond market, where trading was volatile as dealers took positions on the US budget impasse and particularly whether President Clinton can come to an agreement with Congress. European markets had a positive day and outperformed the American bond markets.
