Financials struggle on a weak day of trading

Market Report: The Irish market finished lower yesterday, having taken its direction from the US and the rest of Europe. Some relief came in mid-afternoon after Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke signalled the US central bank may pause its rate-raising campaign, but the Iseq still ended 0.42 per cent weaker.

The banks were to blame for much of the fall, with Irish Life & Permanent the worst-off by the close. Shares ended the session at €20.20, down 25 cent. Some of the drop was attributable to Irish Life & Permanent's move ex-dividend on Wednesday. The move also came on relatively weak volume, with the other banks notably busier.

Bank of Ireland stood out, with five million shares changing hands as the stock fell by nine cent to €14.58. Morgan Stanley has initiated coverage of Bank of Ireland with a price target of €18.60. The broker says the bank offers the best risk-reward profile among Irish banks.

AIB also struggled a bit, losing five cent to close at €18.90. Anglo Irish Bank dropped by six cent to €12.94.

The larger industrials also took a hit amid the general malaise, with CRH falling by 15 cent to €29.20 despite positive reaction to its latest chunky acquisition. The firm is expected to deliver guidance on current performance at its annual meeting next Wednesday. NCB has raised its price target from €29.50 to €32.50 per share.

Ryanair fell too, closing nine cent weaker at €6.66.

Greencore was busy as it outperformed the market by rising three cent to €4.

A more substantial outperformance came from C&C, where shares climbed by 10 cent to €6.35 on the back of continued good volume growth in the UK cider market.

Fyffes also bucked the trend, albeit in a modest fashion. Shares in the fruit firm added two cent to finish at €2.16. Still on outperformers, the star turn of the day came from Paddy Power, which rose by 24 cent to €14.20 on fairly decent volume.