Market report:THE ISEQ index slipped into the red yesterday, driven down by weakness in a number of bank stocks and drinks company CC. It closed the day down 23 points or 0.4 per cent at 5,466.
Ongoing concerns about the health of the financial industry and the credit crisis hit banks across Europe, and Ireland was no exception with AIB, Bank of Ireland and Irish Life Permanent (ILP) being sold off on reasonable volumes as more than 3 per cent was shaved off the value of the two big banks and 4.5 per cent from ILP.
Bank of Ireland shed 20.6 cents to €6.37, while AIB saw 33.7 cents knocked off its share price to finish at €10.07.
Irish Life Permanent gave up most of previous day's gains as it as it fell back 42 cents to €8.78.
Anglo bucked the trend, picking up 1.5 cents to €6.915, while FBD was flat at €22.00.
CC also found itself under pressure, and was one of the Iseq's worst performers yesterday as it lost more than 8.5 per cent of its value to €4.07, with nearly two million shares traded. Analysts said an imminent launch of an advertising campaign for Scottish and Newcastle's cider brands was weighing on CC stock.
On a day of little news flow, Elan outperformed the broader market as the stock continued to ride the wave of positive sentiment from its better-than-expected headline figures from phase II clinical trials of a therapy for Alzheimer's disease. It advanced nearly 5 per cent as it tacked on €95.4 cents to €20.794.
A surge in oil prices to more than $136 a barrel had a knock-on effect on Dragon Oil, with the stock advancing 26 cents to €5.70.
The rise in oil prices hit Ryanair, which saw a late sell-off in stock to drop 1.2 cents to €3.04. However, Aer Lingus managed to hold on to its gains as it closed the day 3.6 per cent stronger at €1.63.
Settlement date: June 25th
