The Dublin market was dragged lower this morning by weakness in Eircom and Elanbut financial shares made solid gains.
Eircom suffered a heavy loss this morning shedding 13 cents to euro 2.55. The fall was caused by this morning's announcement of a massive share placing by Vodafone to fund acquisitions including Eircell. Market heavyweight Elan is also off 75 cents to euro 57.
On the upside financial shares gained ground with AIB 5 cents stronger at euro 12.45 and Bank of Ireland advanced 9 cents to euro 10.90.
A strong close on the Nasdaq last night propelled Irish technology share higher with Iona up euro 3.50 to euro 51.50 while Baltimore gained 7p to 91p in London this morning.
London shares stayed weak at mid-session, weighed down by a big fall from market heavyweight Vodafone Group in reaction to today's news of a £3 billionshare placing to fund stake acquisitions from BT, dealers said.
At 12.29 p.m., the FTSE 100 index was 9.6 points easier at 5,918.4, above an opening low of 5,903.4, but well below an early morning peak at 5,963.4. The broader FTSE indices were mixed, with the FTSE 250 and Small Cap indices higher, but the others lower.