Iseq falls on back of US retails sales

After climbing during the first half of the day, the Iseq fell back in afternoon trading in line with global markets, as disappointing US retail sales figures weighed on investor sentiment. The Iseq finished the session 2.6 per cent lower at 3,315.

The Iseq’s two main banking stocks continued to see a lot of volatility, refusing to settle into a consistent pattern following the announcement of the Nama pricing mechanism last week. AIB closed 1.8 per cent lower while Bank of Ireland fell by just over 6 per cent with one broker noting some profit-taking after last week’s rally.

Irish Life & Permanent was also down, after the Chief Executive of its banking division, Permanent TSB told a Joint Oireachtas Committee that margins continued to be low, while there had been “no serious discussions” with the Minister for Finance about the possibility of a merger between it and the two main building society. It ended the day 6.24 per cent lower at €5.50.

After the two main banks, Ryanair was the most traded stock following its AGM today at which the low-cost carrier’s Chief Executive appeared to rule out another bid for Aer Lingus but said that it may invest further in the former state carrier. Ryanair’s share price closed 3.4 per cent lower, as the AGM failed to deliver any upgrade of its predictions.

There was also heavy trading on Aer Lingus, although it ended the day flat at 78 cent.

Independent News & Media also saw a lot of investor activity, as the company announced details of an EGM to be held in early November. The announcement didn’t please the markets, however, with the share price closing 6 per cent lower to end the day at 28 cent.

CRH, the largest constituent on the Iseq, continued to slide, reversing its significant advancement last week to finish lower for the fourth consecutive day. Disappointing figures from the US which showed an unexpected fall in the sale of second-hand homes weighed on the share price of the construction giant which has a large presence in the US. It ended the day 2.7 per cent lower at €19.01.

Across Europe markets were down, led by banking and energy stocks.

Britain’s FTSE ended the day 1.2 per cent lower at 5,079 as the governor of the Bank of Ireland raised concern over the pace of economic recovery.

The Paris and Frankfurt markets were also down, as the markets responded to the disappointing house sales news from the US. The Dax index ended at 5,605 points, down almost 97 points or 1.7 percent, while in Paris, the CAC lost 1.66 per cent to close at 3,759, a fall of 63.

On Wall Street, the main stock markets were down so far today, following disappointing housing figures which showed that sales of second-hand houses fell unexpectedly in August. The news that the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell in the same month failed to buoy the markets.

At 17.45 pm GMT the Dow Jones was down 60, just over 0.5 per cent, at 9,694, while the Nasdaq was down 28 at 2,103, a fall of 1.32 per cent.