IRISH markets had a roller coaster ride this week with financial stocks leading the ups and downs as international bond markets got the jitters.
Bank of Ireland started the week at 439p and finished at 444p while AIB kicked off at 358p and closed yesterday at 343p.
Financial stocks traditionally move in line with bond markets and the sell off earlier in the week hit them hard.
Initial selling came out of London, traders said. "It was mostly profit taking," said one analyst. However, one seller of a line of 700,000 shares did emerge. Later in the week, however, buyers returned. One US fund bought shares and converted them into a million ADRs, traders said.
Mr Oliver O'Shea, banking analyst at Goodbody Stockbrokers, said the "mutuality benefit packages in Britain and Ireland, where the building societies are rewarding loyal savers and borrowers, also hit sentiment on bank stocks.
Irish Permanent closed the week at 393p. There were some sellers around ahead of its results which are due out Tuesday, traders said. Mr O'Shea added that the 16 million unclaimed shares offer the possibility of further earnings enhancement and are soundly underpinning the shares.
Smurfit, too, saw its shares seesaw throughout much of the week as talk of a huge overhang of stock excited the market. The huge US Tiger hedge fund tried early on the week to off load over 50 million shares, but brokers failed to find enough buyers.
The failure of two separate broking groups Davys/UBS and NCB/NatWest to place the shares securely does not augur well for the short term as Tiger is seen as a reluctant holder of the shares.
Smurfit staged a small bounce on the withdrawal of the block but traders said volume was low.
Greencore continued to push up to record highs. Most of the interest was from oversees as more fund managers discover the stock, a dealer said.
Clondalkin managed its highest share price since 1991 after announcing a 22 per cent rise in, profits to £18.3 million.
The gilts market was hit after Wall Street suffered several days of large losses before staging a comeback on Thursday when it made its largest gain for five years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced on the back of, slightly stronger bond markets and expectations that the US economy may be set to grow moderately with no surge in interest rates or inflation.
Gilts are still in "soggy" territory, traders said. Turnover improved towards the end of the week and yields improved. However, by late Friday the market had come off again.
"Next week is going to be very difficult in the market. We are, taking our lead form the British, market and sentiment there is" very shaky with all the political problems," a dealer said.
The resignation on Thursday of Tory MP Mr Peter Thurnham, leaving Mr John Major's government with a majority of only two, hit sentiment.
