Bank of Ireland once again came under the cosh on the Dublin market as negative sentiment towards the proposed merger with Alliance & Leicester weighed down on the shares.
Dealers said that they see little upside for the shares until Bank's management is in a position to state its case in favour of the merger and even then they may have an uphill task persuading the market that the deal is in the best interests of Bank shareholders. Yesterday, Bank of Ireland shares were 35 cents down to €16.55 (£13.03). The stock is now 18 per cent off its €20.30 (£15.99) high.
Other financial stocks were generally firmer, with AIB up 25 cents on €14.15 (£11.14). First Active was three cents firmer on €3.43 (£2.70) while Irish Life & Permanent gained five cents to €11.65 (£9.18) as chairman-elect Roy Douglas exercised 75,000 options.
Industrials were mixed and CRH drifted eight cents lower to €18.30 (£14.41), while Ryanair remained in demand after the heavily oversubscribed placing and added another 23 cents to a new high of €9.50 (£7.48). Dealers see little sign of weakness for Ryanair in the near-term, with many frustrated buyers from the placing waiting to seize on any weakness in the price to pick up stock.
Golden Vale was one cent easier on €1.09 (86p) - Scottish Provident is a recent seller of the shares, unloading 500,000 on Tuesday to take its stake to 9.2 million shares, or 5.82 per cent of the total. Some second-liners saw demand, with IWP up 15 cents to €2.35 (£1.85), while In- dependent was 20 cents stronger on €5.00 (£3.94).
