The Iseq index retreated slightly today as the spectre of rising oil prices overshadowed encouraging employment figures from the US.
The Dublin market opened well this morning, and played “catch-up” with US markets which were strong overnight, brokers said. However the Iseq drifted off in the afternoon in line with European markets, as fears over further increases in oil prices resurfaced.
In the financial sector, Bank of Ireland once again accounted for the most of the volume. The stock was fairly steady for much of the day, trading around the 33 cent level. However it finished a fraction off at 32 cent. The other two banks were reasonably quiet, with AIB down slightly at 24 cent, and Irish Life & Permanent off 1.5 cent at 88 cent.
Elsewhere, index bellweather CRH traded on very thin volume but fluctuated considerably on the day It almost tipped €16.30 at one point before slipping back below the €16.00 mark. By the close, the stock was more than 1 per cent off, or 16.5 cent, at just under €15.91.
Traders also reported weakness in Grafton. Although the group, which owns the Woodie’s and Atlantic Homecare chains, reported strong profit growth on Thursday, it fell 12 cent to €3.50 today, albeit on fairly thin volume.
Overall, the Iseq fell 0.2 per cent to 2,923.92. The UK's FTSE 100 Index slipped 0.2 per cent, Germany's DAX Index lost 0.7 per cent and France's CAC 40 Index sank 1 per cent.
Additional reporting - Bloomberg