The Iseq share index had fallen 88.04 points to 8,606.80 following gains yesterday of 2.5 per cent.
C&C Group (up 0.16 per cent €6.380), Anglo Irish Bank Corporation (down -0.14 per cent at €14), Allied Irish Banks (down -0.56 at €19.500), Bank of Ireland (down -0.49 per cent at €14.130) and Kingspan Group (-0.34 per cent at €17.540) were the most traded shares.
Elsewhere, US stocks fell again today after a measure of the vast services sector showed its lowest reading since April 2003, rattling a market already nervous over fallout from the housing market downturn.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 65.36 points, or 0.49 per cent, at 13,397.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 9.64 points, or 0.65 per cent, at 1,462.56. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 14.85 points, or 0.58 per cent, at 2,561.13.
The FTSE 100 of Britain's leading shares reversed earlier gains today with commodity stocks mixed and results upbeat, as traders eyed US payrolls data.
Earlier this morning, the FTSE was 9.4 points, or 0.2 per cent lower, at 6,290.9.
But with investors remaining jittery over the credit crunch which has dogged global markets since mid-June, many looked to US non-farm payrolls data for July for further economic clues.