MARKET REPORT:IT WAS another dismal day on the Dublin market which closed more than 2 per cent weaker, losing 99.57 points to 4,686.61.

After Wednesday's rebound, bank stocks again found themselves under pressure, while a number of construction stocks fared little better.

General weakness in European banking stocks, combined with a number of broker downgrades of Irish banks, led to a general sell-off of most stocks in the sector.

Anglo Irish Bank bore the brunt of the exodus from bank shares as it saw 8.5 per cent wiped from the value of its shares on strong volumes, before it closed at €4.85.

AIB fell back 34 cent or nearly 4 per cent to €8.21, while Irish Life Permanent was 16 cent, or 3.3 per cent, weaker at €4.72.

Bank of Ireland, however, bucked the trend, with decent institutional buying in the stock as some buyers concluded that it had been overly sold off in recent days. Its shares finished up 11 cents at €4.94.

There was some decent buying and selling in CRH, but sellers eventually won out as the stock closed 1.9 per cent, or 30 cent, weaker at €15.52.

Building materials group Grafton issued a management statement in which it said revenues fell by €200 million to €1.4 billion in the first half of the year, due to the severe construction slowdown. But despite saying it remained confident about the future, the stock was subjected to sustained selling, which saw it end the day 6 per cent weaker at €2.875. Despite posting a 60 per cent drop in pre-tax profits, housebuilder Abbey saw its share price advance by 2.8 per cent as it picked up 8 cents to €2.88.

Ryanair had a miserable day as a spike in oil prices and the chaos at Dublin Airport weighed heavily on the stock. It fell back nearly 7 per cent to €2.665.

Settlement date: July 15th