The wave of selling washing over international markets hit Irish stocks this morning but the technology-light ISEQ avoided the worst of the bearish sentiment. At 12.30 p.m. the ISEQ was 1.3 per cent lower at 5,539.
Declining stocks outnumbered gainers by two to one the Dublin market plunged into the red. Financial stocks bore the brunt of the sell-off with AIB down 27 cents to euro 11.11, Bank of Ireland off 10 cents at euro 9.90 and First Active shedding 15 cents or 5.3 per cent to euro 2.65.
All eyes will be on Wall Street's opening for signs of a bounce as investors may be tempted by bargains, dealers said.
Building materials firm Grafton succumbed to profit-taking after a strong recent run to fall euro 1.20 to 31.30 after last week's impressive results.
CRH fell 34 cents to 18.10, Eircom held steady gaining 1 cent to euro 2.43. Navan Mining is 9 cents lower at euro 1.61 after a major shareholder offloaded shares this morning.
London shares stayed weak around midday but held off their early morning lows, supported by hopes of a recovery on Wall Street today following a savaging over the past few sessions.
By 12.18 p.m., the FTSE 100 index was 68.0 points lower at 5,756.8, above an earlier low of 5,746.8.
Selected telecom issues managed to hold its rally around midday after recent sharp falls, with market heavyweight Vodafone standing out, taking on 5p at 202p, while BT added 9p at 543p.
Selected technology blue chips also attracted bargain hunting on hopes of an early Nasdaq rally today.
British insurer Prudential rallied after earlier falls as the market continued to mull yesterday's mammoth £25 billion merger move for American General Insurance. It gained 16p 788p as dealers pointed out that the stock looked oversold.