Iseq closes down 2%

On a busy results day today, Dublin's ISEQ ended 2 per cent off, as a poor performance by index heavyweight CRH and the two main financials dragged down the market.

CRH, the largest constituent on the ISEQ, fell below €17 at one stage, after the construction company warned that full-year profits would be down significantly. It regained ground throughout the session however to close at €17.46, a fall of 2.5 per cent.

Building materials group Grafton shed just under one per cent after it said that tough trading conditions would continue, but that the market decline is beginning to slow.

ICG was one of the few gainers, after its interim results showed a reduction in the company's debt levels, despite reporting a fall in operating profits. It advanced 23 cent, or 1.8 per cent, on the day to close at €13.23.

DCC was also up, after it reported a strong performance by its energy division and a slight overall increase in profit, despite a fall in revenue. It closed 1.24 per cent higher at €19.61, a gain of 24 cent.

Dublin-based security software company Norkom, which also posted half-year results yesterday, gained 9 per cent on the day. TVC,which owns a 27 per cent stake in Norkom, gained a more modest 1.7 percent to end at 61 cent.

Smurfit Kappa put in a solid performance today, ahead of its interim results tomorrow, and the announcement of an eight year debt issue by one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries. Despite slipping back slightly towards the end of the session, it finished 4 cent higher at €5.94.

The financials reversed yesterday's gains. Bank of Ireland and AIB both finished 9 per cent lower, closing at €1.86 and €1.85 respectively.

In Europe, the main stock markets closed fractionally lower, reversing their recent rally, following disappointing results from Vodafone. The Frankfurt DAX shed 0.1 per cent to close at 5,613, while in Paris, the CAC was flat at 3, 785.

London's FTSE was also down, closing marginally lower at 5,231, despite a jump by HSBC following a positive trading update.

On Wall Street this afternoon, both the Nasdaq and the Dow Jones were down, despite trading higher this morning, and the Dow reaching a new 13-month high at one stage. At 17.45 pm GMT the Dow Jones was down 28 at 10,199 while the Nasdaq was down 12 at 2,142.