Iseq finishes unchanged on day of uncertainty

Iseq: 2,661.87 (+0.32) Settlement date: November 15th: YESTERDAY ENDED better in Dublin than those interested might have expected as they were making their way to work and listening to the morning news on their radios.

Asian indices were down as European trading opened, but then there was something of a bounce as the markets, rationally or otherwise, decided matters in the euro zone and elsewhere might not be so disastrous after all, and the day closed pretty much where it had started.

The Iseq closed essentially unchanged, while London’s FTSE 100 slid by a modest 0.3 per cent.

That said, in late afternoon the mood in the market had changed back again to heightened stress and worry and, as one trader put it, there are still a lot of nervous investors out there.

Bank of Ireland’s refusal to pass on the ECB’s interest rate cut to its variable mortgage customers did nothing to bolster its share price. It ended the day at €0.08, having lost 4.44 per cent.

Any sign that the bank is going to bow to the political pressure it is being subjected to would be viewed by shareholders as a sign of weakness, one trader said.

US investors continued to buy into Greencore in the expectation of a development and the stock closed at €0.75, a rise of 4.44 per cent (the same figure as the percentage fall in the Bank of Ireland share price).

Kerry Group closed at €26, a fall of 1.7 per cent. Traders said there was lots of interest in the share at that price.

Peripatetic building group CRH, which will have its main listing in London come December, saw its share price rise by 2.76 per cent, to €13.05.

An update is expected on Monday from ICG. It was finding buyers yesterday, traders said, though it finished the day down 0.33 per cent, at €14.95. Fyffes rose 5.26 per cent, at €0.4.