Take away the big gains by Telecom after its inclusion in the MSCI and it was otherwise another dismal day for the Irish market with prices weaker across the board as markets reacted negatively to Fed chairman's Alan Greenspan latest comments on stock markets.

Telecom has become a bit of an enigma. As soon as the market takes the view that it has reached a peak it then gets renewed stimulus and yesterday that stimulus came in the form of the MSCI.

Trading in the final hour in both Dublin and London was frantic as index funds bid the shares up to a close of €5.00 (£3.94) with bids for stock at €4.98.

Whether the magical €5.00 will trigger more selling by private investors remains to be seen but the shares are well-supported.

Otherwise it was down, down, down, and the major financial shares were weaker in thin trading with AIB down 6 cents on €13.09 (£10.31), while Bank of Ireland lost 5 cents to €8.84 (£6.96).

CRH fell sharply by 27 cents to €18.63 (£14.67) but will probably get a boost next week when Irish analysts return from a trip to the group's interests in eastern Europe. "Expect a flood of buy recommendations," commented one dealer.

Greencore fell heavily by 20 cents to €2.80 (£2.21) as a line of half a million shares was dumped onto the Dublin market from London. Speculation is that Greencore may be planning a buyback to try and put a floor under the sinking share price.

Housebuilder Abbey lost 4 cents to €4.01 (£3.16) as Quinn-Direct Assurance declared a 3.23 per cent stake. Results from Smurfit Stone were in line with forecasts but Smurfit shares still lost 6 cents to €2.52 (£1.98).

The main feature on NASDAQ was a sharp fall by Esat although trading volumes in the stock were very low.