Banks suffer in torrid day on Iseq

Irish stocks were friendless today, with virtually all the Dublin market's leading companies, barring Elan, falling.

The Iseq Index of Irish shares was left trailing by 67.53 points or 1.24 per cent at 5,398.65 as business ended for the day.

One of the worst performers was Bank of Ireland, which fell over 5 per cent to €6.05, one of its lowest quotes in close to a decade, dealers said.

AIB, CRH and the other financials also endured a torrid time. Dealers said news that a report out tomorrow is set to slash growth forecasts for the Republic's economy sent investors running for cover.

"The no vote to the Lisbon Treaty isn't helping either," one commented.

Financials also suffered in the rest of Europe and were off about 2.4 per cent in London. However, the FTSE 100 index added 46.4 points or 0.8 per cent to end the day at 5,667.2, largely thanks to its exposure to oil companies, who again benefited as crude prices edged up to $136.82 a barrel.

The French and Germany markets were largely flat. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index, which tracks leading shares in 18 western European markets, was down 0.1 per cent at 295.04 at 4.30pm.