Shares fall back as holiday lull begins

It was a relatively uneventful day on the Irish stock exchange as the markets prepared for the holiday season lull. The Iseq ended 27.59 points down to 6,797.72, representing something of a relief from the negative sentiment that affected the market early in the week.

However, there was no let up for building stocks, which were again bearing the brunt of the slide. Building stocks were among the most traded, with Kingspan slipping 2.02 per cent to €10.17 and CRH falling to €24.20, a 3.22 per cent drop. Grafton was also weak on the back of Kingspan. Its trading statement is due in at the start of January.

The construction sector was little helped by new data from the Permanent TSB/ESRI House Price Index that showed house prices fell 1.1 per cent in November and predicting the level of house-building to slow next year, with 20,000 fewer homes expected to be built.

Financial stocks were also weaker, with Bank of Ireland slipping 0.81 per cent, Anglo Irish Bank falling 0.96 per cent and Irish Life and Permanent losing 1.07 per cent. AIB bucked the trend, rising 1.02 per cent.

Ryanair stock rose 1.82 per cent to finish at €4.63, however, the volume of shares traded was down. Analysts do not expect this to change drastically before the release of its quarterly results early next year.

United Drug also performed well, gaining 12 cents, or 3.08 per cent, to end at €4.02. After a 5.3 per cent dip yesterday, Greencore recovered up 3.33 per cent , closing the day's trading at €4.65.

FBD Holdings lost 55 cents, finishing at €25.15, and DCC lost 15 cents or 0.77 per cent to close at €19.35.