C&C slumps on flat day for Iseq

The big news on the Irish Stock Exchange today came from drinks group C&C, as the stock fell by 3.2 per cent following the release of its trading update.

Despite expectations that the firm would receive a bounce from the World Cup and good weather this summer, the group's trading statement was largely flat. The stock fell off on the back of that, losing 11 cent to close down at €3.17.

Elsewhere the market was largely flat, with the Iseq adding 0.28 points, or 0.01 per cent, to close at 2,963.62, ahead of markets around Europe.

Market driver CRH was off slightly, down by just 0.2 per cent at €16.30, but food group Kerry traded at an all time-high of over € 25 today, although it closed just off it, at €24.90, up by 5 cent, or 0.2 per cent on the day.

It was another positive day for Paddy Power, which has been "ridiculously strong" of late, according to one Dublin broker. It closed up slightly by 8 cent, or 0.3 per cent, at € 27.87.

After a tough day on Wednesday, AIB was largely flat today, and it advanced slightly, by 0.4 per cent, to finish up at € 0.94.

The other financial stocks both put in good performances, with strong demand for Bank of Ireland saw it gaining 3 per cent, or 3 cent, to close the day up at €0.87. Irish Life & Permanent added 2 cent, or 0.9 per cent, to climb to € 1.84.

Airline Ryanair had a bit of a choppy day today. After a strong start it had a bit of a wobble late in the day, before closing near to its highs of the day at € 3.95, down by 0.1 per cent.

Pharmaceutical firm Elan was particularly strong today, gaining 18 cent, or 4.8 per cent, to advance to € 3.98, while DCC was also a climber. It added 23 cent, or 1.2 per cent, to finish the day up at € 19.25.

Although Smurfit Kappa was up for most of the day, a sell-off close to the end saw the stock finish up down by 9 cent, or 1.1 per cent, at € 8.06.

Also down on the day was food group Aryzta, which gave up € 1.08, or 3.5 per cent, to finish down at €30.25.

Elsewhere, markets around Europe fell on the back of an unexpected increase in US jobless claims. In the UK, the FTSE was down by 0.4 per cent at 5,365.78, while the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 was also down, losing 0.3 per cent to close at 261.48.