Trading was muted on the ISEQ yesterday in the run up to Christmas with investors reluctant to leave deals open over New Year's Eve out of fear of Y2K problems.
Interest was focused mainly on AIB as the implications of the Public Accounts Committee report sunk in. The possibility of a substantial DIRT liability resulted in the shares dropping 39 cents to €11.05 (£8.70). One analyst pointed out that the stock was now 28 per cent off this year's opening, but could represent good value at its current levels given that any DIRT settlement would be a once-off payment.
Bank of Ireland, which fared better than its main competitor in the DIRT inquiry - its own estimate being that it has a £1 million liability - was up 17 cents to €8.15 (£6.42). Other financials had a mixed day's trading. Anglo Irish Bank was two cents off at €2.25 (£1.77) and Irish Life & Permanent was unchanged when it closed at €9.60.
The collapse of the Telia-Telenor merger deal, which has led to the collapse of the Esat takeover bid, affected the telecoms stock on the Nasdaq. It was $8.25 down to $73.75 (€72) in mid-day trading.
On the ISEQ, Eircom was off one cent at €4.23 (£3.33). Among other industrial stocks, Smurfit continued to reap the benefit of an expectation that paper prices will increase next month. This followed the announcement that pulp inventories for November were at their lowest since 1989. According to Morgan Stanley, the outlook remains strong for the sector. Smurfit was up one cent to €3.00 (£2.36).
CRH was 8.75 cents off at €19.69 1/4 (£15.51). DCC, which has received a buy recommendation from NCB at €7.45, was 21 cents up at €7.40 (£5.83). Fyffes notched up another cent in a buoyant week, rising to €2.00 (£1.58).
