Markets were depressed across Europe today, but the Iseq index suffered even more than its peers due to its exposure to the construction and airline sectors. The Iseq closed down over 4 per cent at 2,703.14.
The Iseq’s largest component CRH weighed heavily on the index, falling almost 6 per cent to just under €16.94. Brokers noted that there were plenty of sellers around in the Dublin-headquartered cement giant, which started off weak and remained under pressure. Many of its international peers such as Saint-Gobain and Lafarge also had a poor day’s trading.
Low budget airline Ryanair, which has the second-largest weighting on the index, also struggled today, closing down 2.6 per cent - more than 8 cent - at just under €3.14, on a day when airline indexes around the world were off about 3 per cent.
The financial sector was also weak on the day. AIB shed 13 per cent, slipping back below the €2.00 mark to close at €1.74. Bank of Ireland fell more than 4 per cent to €1.69, while Irish Life and Permanent was down almost 3 per cent at €2.95.
The hardest-hit stock on the day was Independent News & Media, which this morning proposed a “deeply discounted” rights offering to help it raise cash to repay a €200 million bond. Although rumours of such a move had been circulating for while, the stock was heavily hit from the opening, and dropped by over 21 per cent - or 7 cent - to 26 cent over the course of the day.
Strong performers were hard to come by. DCC fared relatively well given the day that was in it, trading up by almost 10 cent to €14.11. Bakery group Aryzta also managed to buck the downward trend, adding 20 cent to close at €22.80.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended 2.8 per cent lower at 837.22 points. Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 were 2.6-3 per cent lower.
( Additional reporting: Reuters)