MARKET REPORT: Iseq: 2,344.47 (-15.06) Settlement date: February 18thTHE LATEST twist in the saga of Irish Life Permanent (ILP) came too late in the day to affect the stock's price yesterday.

Confirmation that the group’s chief executive Denis Casey had stepped down from his position was issued near the close of the trading day and ILP finished down just over 4 per cent at €1.58.

Volumes in the stock fell to their lowest level of the week. According to one dealer, most of the trading was done on Thursday after it had emerged that ILP had provided “exceptional deposit support” to Anglo Irish Bank in September 2008.

AIB turned out to be the biggest loser of the day, falling over 26 per cent, or almost 25 cent, to €0.68. Bank of Ireland fell by three cent to €0.48.

One trader pointed out that both bank stocks will soon be taken out of the MSCI Index and predicted this would place them under increasing pressure over the coming days and weeks.

Ratings agency Standard Poors downgraded both banks yesterday due to deterioration in their asset quality.

Although this may have caused some downward pressure on the stocks, a dealer noted that the downgrade did not come as a huge surprise. Exploration company Tullow Oil was the star performer of the day, gaining almost 64 cent to close at €8.22.

Although CC was down slightly, dipping just over a cent to €0.90, one trader reported renewed interest in the share.

The drinks manufacturer is due to update the market on March 3rd and there is an expectation that new management will make the hard decisions needed to restore confidence in the stock.

Independent News Media was another poor performer, sliding over 12 per cent to €0.19 on the back of a pessimistic outlook report released by an international broker.