Iseq falls as banks, construction firms dip

The Irish index of shares moved lower this afternoon, tracking a similar fall in European markets.

The Iseq was down 1.5 per cent to 2,941.05, dipping 46 points.

The financials were all trading off this afternoon, with AIB down 1.9 per cent to €1.53, and Bank of Ireland losing 1.8 per cent to €1.61. Media reports over the weekend warned the market value of loans being transferred to the National Asset Management Agency may be lower than estimates made in September.

Irish Life & Permanent, which is not involved in the scheme, was down 1 per cent to €3.76.

Aer Lingus was also suffering, after its traffic statistics for November showed load factor and passenger traffic for its long haul routes were both down. The airline has cut capacity on the long haul routes in recent months.

Shares in bellweather stock CRH were also down, falling 2.7 per cent to €17.90.

However, shares in Independent News and Media rose after the company announced it had sold its 49 per cent stake in German price comparator website Verivox. Shares were trading up 2 per cent at 10 cent following the announcement today.

Petroceltic's drilling update this morning on its AT-2 well in Algeria boosted its shares higher in the day's trade. By the afternoon, its stock had gained 18 per cent to 18 cent.

Merrion Pharmaceuticals was lifted 2.2 per cent to €3.68 on the Iseq this afternoon. The company had earlier announced that it had received a $2 million milestone payment under a deal with Novo Nordisk, which is using Merrion's technology in a phase one clinical trial of an oral insulin drug.

European shares fell back today from the previous session's two-week closing high, with Siemens weaker after a broker downgrade and UK lenders hit by the possibility of a tax on bankers' bonuses.

At 1140 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.6 per cent at 1,019.86 points. It gained 1.1 per cent on Friday after data showed US employers cut far fewer than expected jobs in November.

The European benchmark is up more than 58 per cent from its lifetime low of March 9th, as investors have become more
confident on the prospects for economic recovery.

"Stocks are looking fairly valued, though there's still some of the stimulus down the track. You could argue both ways," said Andy Lynch, fund manager at Schroders.

However, he added that volumes were low, "and it's very difficult to read anything into the movements today."

German engineering conglomerate Siemens, an index heavyweight, dropped 1.8 per cent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to "equal-weight" from "overweight" and cut its price target to €70 from €80.