Irish shares continued to drift lower in lacklustre trading, and with Wall Street once again trading lower as the Irish market closed for the day, further losses may be in the offing. At this stage, there is no sign that the Irish market has reached a floor.
Bank of Ireland was the weakest of the leaders, falling 28 cents to €7.89 (£6.21) although other losses among the financials were more modest with AIB down 10 cents on €12.15 (£9.57) while Irish Life & Permanent lost 20 cents to €10.30 (£8.11).
Eircom continued to trade in a narrow range and was 5 cents firmer on €4.00 (£3.15) while CRH bounced back from some early selling to close up 5 cents on €19.05. Elsewhere, DCC was in demand, adding 8 cents to €7.33 (£5.77). Athlone Extrusions was 3 cents firmer on 83 cents (65p) after the hefty share-buying by directors and management. Greencore gained 8 1/2 cents to €2.90 (£2.28) only to close 1 1/2 cents off at £2.80.
Tullow took an early beating after news of the Pakistani coup hit the market. The share traded down to a low of 76 cents (60p) before recovering to close down 8 cents on 82 cents (65p). The trading pattern was much the same in London where the share hit a low of 46p sterling before closing just 2p lower on 53p sterling.
The main feature of New York trading in Irish stocks was the strong positive response to the Iona third quarter figures. The shares were up $2 on $171/8 in heavy trading as the Dublin market closed, a rise of over 13 per cent.
