Banks push Iseq into negative territory

It was another volatile day on the Irish market, as the Iseq fell by 1.6 per cent, following a disastrous day on US markets on Thursday.

Financials were once more hit hard, amidst growing concerns over credit losses and the impact of the economic slowdown on European banks.

The worst performing financial stock was Anglo Irish Bank, which fell by 8.2 per cent, or by 54 cents, to €6.04.

Irish Life & Permanent, which at one stage during the day was down 10 per cent, staged a come-back later in the day to close at €5.07, down by 28 cents or by 5.2 per cent.

Both Bank of Ireland and AIB also fell during the day – Bank of Ireland was down 5.1 per cent or 30 cents to €5.60 while AIB closed the day down 3.5 per cent, or 30 cents, to €8.20.

Drinks group C&C saw its share price plummet by 8.3 per cent or by 24 cents to €2.65 and building supply firm Grafton Group also declined, its share price falling by 5.7 per cent, down by 21 cents to €3.50.

Ahead of Ryanair's first quarter results which will be published on Monday, the stock fell by almost 2 per cent, or by 6 cents, to close the day at €3.23.

In Europe, additional concern over the impact of the credit crunch and worsening economic conditions on the financial sector, combined with Munich Re's 48 per cent fall in second-quarter earnings, sent markets lower. In London, the FTSE 100 ended the week slightly in the red, falling by 0.2 per cent to 5,352.6, while in Frankfurt the DAX closed down 0.1 per cent and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.7 per cent.

In the US, stocks bounced back in the morning as data on housing, manufacturing and consumer sentiment was stronger than expected