The Irish stock market lost 1.4 per cent of its value, dragged down by a 10 per cent drop in Elan amid renewed concern about the group's finances and weakness on global stock markets.
Settlement Day: June 12th
After shedding 21 per cent on Wall Street on Thursday in the wake of a scathing research report from Credit Suisse First Boston, Elan lost more than 15 per cent in morning trade in Dublin.
"The stock was back below $7 in the US," one dealer said. "There is not a huge amount of confidence in management."
However, the shares recovered some ground when US trading began in the afternoon as the pharmaceutical group assured investors it did not face a cash crunch and they eventually narrowed their losses in Dublin to close at €8.00, a drop of 10 per cent on the day.
Technology stocks also took a beating as the sector suffered generally following an unexpectedly grim sales forecast from Intel.
In Dublin, Iona lost 92 cents, or 10 per cent, to €8.05 while Riverdeep was 17 cents, or more than 5 per cent, lower at €2.83.
Leading financial stocks had a mixed day with AIB slipping by 20 cents to €14.80 whereas Bank of Ireland gained seven cents to €13.85. Irish Life & Permanent was unchanged at €16.73.
Among industrial shares, CRH shed 85 cents to €18.30 in light volumes, Waterford Wedgwood was up four cents at €0.72, while Smurfit was just one cent lower at €3.12.
In Britain, mobile phone giant Vodafone led the losses on the FTSE as it fell to four-and-a-half-year lows. The stock dropped 6.7 per cent to 90 pence after a report that its Japanese J-phone unit had disappointing subscriber numbers.
