Irish shares followed the downward slide of world equity markets this morning as war fears sent markets and the dollar sliding and propelled gold to its highest level in six years.
In Dublin the ISEQ index fell 115 points or 3 per cent to 3,850.33 in early morning trade. Among this morning's fallers were were AIB -51 (-3.98 per cent), Bank of Ireland -56 (-5.74 per cent ), CRH -40 (-3,48 per cent), and Irish Life & Permanent -25.(2.35 per cent)
Worldwide, oil prices rose and safe-haven government bonds held steady as investors nervously awaited UN chief arms inspector Dr Hans Blix's report, due to be presented to the Security Council this afternoon.
Brent crude for March delivery was 17 cents higher at $30.66 a barrel and US light crude was a seven cents higher at $33.35 a barrel.
Analysts say that although the inspectors may win more time to carry out their work, they expect President Bush to maintain that the United States will go to war against Iraq with or without its traditional allies when he makes his annual State of the Union address tomorrow.
European stocks tumbled to their lowest levels since March 1997 this morning following falls in Asia and a slide in US shares on Friday. The FTSE Eurotop 300 index was down 3.7 per cent and the narrower DJ Euro STOXX 50 index was off 3.15 per cent.
The technology sector was hard hit, down more than 4 per cent after Microsoft chairman Mr Bill Gates said at the weekend he did not expect a big pick-up in technology spending over the next two to three years.
But gold bullion, seen as a safe place for investors to put their money in turbulent times, stormed to a six-year high above $370 an ounce in European trade. The price of gold is 30 per cent higher than this time last year.
The euro extended last week's gains to reach its highest against the dollar for over three years. Sterling also hit a three-year high against the greenback, which fell to a new four-year low against the Swiss franc.
The euro was last at $1.0877, off a high of $1.0885.