Despite closing less than 1 per cent down at 5,828.31 points, an air of calm returned to the Irish stock market yesterday following the previous day's heavy losses, which saw nearly &€8364;1.5 billion wiped off the value of Irish shares.

Although a certain level of stability returned to financial stocks, a feature of the day was particularly heavy trading in Bank of Ireland. Concerns over its high exposure to domestic Irish earnings led to strong two-way market in the stock. It lost six cents to close at &€8364;10.09 with more than 4.8 million shares changing hands.

The other financials had a quieter day. AIB rallied in the morning, before falling back in the afternoon. It still managed to close the day 10 cents stronger at &€8364;12.40 on modest volumes of just under 600,000 shares. Anglo Irish Bank dropped back nine cents to &€8364;3.76, while Irish Life & Permanent picked up 11 cents to &€8364;13.08.

The market also saw continued selling of what one analyst termed "economically vulnerable or sensitive" stocks. Kingspan was under pressure throughout the day, closing 28 cents down at &€8364;2.90. Green Property traded down 10 cents at one stage before closing the day unchanged at &€8364;6.95.

Ryanair's weakness continued, with the stock losing 11 cents to &€8364;11.36 on the back of some profit-taking.

Despite making two acquisitions - in North American and Israel - CRH dropped back 15 cents to close the day at &€8364;19.25. Eircom saw heavy trading throughout the day with more than 11 million shares changing hands. It eventually closed the day unchanged at &€8364;1.34.

Greencore enjoyed a good run, picking up eight cents to finish at &€8364;2.83.