The Irish market was relatively subdued today as US exchanges remained closed for Martin Luther King Jr Day.
Irish banks softened, as did their peers across Europe, ahead of today's Ecofin meeting. AIB shed almost 7 per cent, or two cent, to finish at 28 cent, while Irish Life & Permanent closed more than 3 per cent, almost three cent, down at about 81 cent.
According to one Dublin broker, markets have already priced in the expectation that Europe's finance ministers will agree on a framework that allows for a bigger European Financial Stability Fund, and a mandate for that fund to buy bonds from member states. However there was "a little bit of nervousness" today as to whether these issues will, in fact, be resolved, and this undermined banking stocks.
Elsewhere, Ryanair fell on concerns of higher oil prices. The airline shed more than 2 per cent, or nine cent, to close at €3.76. Rival carrier Aer Lingus held up well despite today's flight disruption arising from a row with cabin crew over controversial new rosters. Although the stock dipped slightly during the session, it closed more or less unchanged at €1.09.
Irish Continental Group continued to attract quite a bit of interest. On one trade it marked up to €18.00 although it backed off again after that. It finished at €17.80, up 50 cent on the day.
Greencore drifted back a little, despite last Friday's announcement of a positive start to its 2011 financial year. It moved off its lows, but it still closed 3.5 cent down at €1.28.
Overall the Iseq was slightly down on the day, slipping 6.38 points to 2,913.43. Across Europe, France's CAC 40 dropped 0.2 per cent, the UK's FTSE 100 lost 0.3 per cent and Germany's DAX was little changed.
Additional reporting - Bloomberg