Market Report

The market drifted lower on patchy trade yesterday, with most of the headline stocks giving up ground in the decline. Independent News & Media was among the biggest losers, with the stock closing six cents weaker at 1.65 after posting first-half results in line with market expectations.

Dealers said profit-taking was in evidence, but also cited speculation that the stock could be facing exclusion from the FTSE All-World Index. DCC came under pressure for the same reason, losing three cents to finish at 10.55. The new shape of the index is likely to emerge today.

Within the financials, Anglo Irish was strong in early trade on the back of a possible entry into the All-World index, but eventually lost the gains and closed three cents lower at 9.17. AIB was four cents stronger at 12.80, while Bank of Ireland fell 11 cents to 10.37. Bank of Ireland said it had bought back 300,000 of its own shares on Tuesday, paying 10.53 per share.

Irish Life & Permanent fell back below the 11.50 level, closing two cents lower at €11.48.

CRH had a particularly poor day, shedding 50 cents to close at 16.12 on volume of less than half a million shares.

Ryanair was also under pressure, dropping 19 cents to 6.43 after a downgrade from Merrill Lynch.

Horizon dropped five cents to 63 cents on low volume, having notched up substantial gains on similarly sparse trade over recent weeks. Kingspan dropped seven cents to €3.18 as the market continued to digest Tuesday's interim numbers.

Heiton again attracted good volume, closing unchanged at 3.40 as 2.5 million shares were traded. McInerney, which is due to report first-half results today, finished three cents lower at 3.52 in quiet trade.