Stocks gave up ground yesterday as a three-day winning streak across European markets came to an end.

AIB dominated what was otherwise a quiet news day as it announced a 6 per cent rise in earnings per share for last year.

"The results were fine. They were in line with expectations but were nothing spectacular," one dealer said.

AIB shares lost 10 cents on the day to €12.40 but traders said that given that British banking stocks were off 1 per cent and European banks had shed 2 per cent of their value, AIB had held up well.

Bank of Ireland closed nine cents lower at €10.20 after confirming it had spent more than €5 million to purchase 500,000 of its own shares in the market on Tuesday at a price of €10.13 each.

Irish Life & Permanent shares bucked the weaker trend, closing 12 cents higher at €9.65 while Anglo Irish Bank also had a good day, adding 12 cents as well to €6.35. But FBD lost 27 cents to €5.63 on a bad day for insurers.

Outside the financial sector, shares turned in a mixed performance although dealers said activity was generally subdued.

CRH closed 20 cents lower at €11.80 while Ryanair also shed 11 cents to €6.54.

Other losers on the day included United Drug, down 20 cents to €12.80, IAWS, which lost 10 cents to €7.00, and Galen, also down 10 cents to €5.35.

The gainers included Elan, up seven cents to €3.62, and Jurys Doyle hotel group, which added 10 cents to €7.10.

Riverdeep shares were unchanged at €1,36 as market hopes that a higher bid for the company might emerge began to fade.