Iseq 3,054.39 (-244) at 4.30pm:Despite today's globally co-ordinated interest rate cut and the UK government's liquidity package for banks, the Irish market still closed down, and the question on most investors' lips was, "what would have happened if the UK liquidity package and rate cut hadn't come?"
Although stocks responded well to the UK government's announcement that it would offer a liquidity life-line to the major retail banks, financial stocks began to slide downwards once more in the early afternoon, dragging the Iseq with them. With uncertainty over the future of Irish banks reigning, the Government's delay in finalising the details of its guarantee of the banking sector is only increasing this uncertainty. Overall, the Iseq fell to an 11-year low, declining by 7.4 per cent or 244.72 points to drop back to 3,054.39.
By 4.30 pm, Anglo Irish Bank had fallen the most, dropping by 38 cent or 14.3 per cent to €2.30, while Allied Irish Bank was close behind, declining by 76 cent or 13.8 per cent to hit €4.79.
Irish Life & Permanent fell back by 32 cent or 8.4 per cent to €3.48 and Bank of Ireland was again the better financial performer on the day, out-performing the Iseq to drop back by 20 cent or 6.1 per cent to €3.01.
Although construction firm CRH dropped back by 26 cent or 1.7 per cent to €15.20, it continues to out-perform the market, with its strong balance sheet seen as key to its ability to weather the current storm.
Ryanair also held up, declining by just 5 cent or 2.3 per cent to reach €2.01, while Independent News & Media marginally increased its share price by 0.3 per cent to advance to €1.08.
Ahead of its interim results which are due to be published today, C&C Group slid by 14 cent or 9.3 per cent to fall back to €1.36.
In the US, fears of a global recession saw the S&P 500 lose 16.86 points, or 1.7 per cent, to fall back to 979.37 by12:21 pm, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average remains below the 10,000 barrier, at 9,271.17.
In the UK, the government's decision to invest £50 billion (€64 billion) to provide a liquidity life-line to the major retail banks failed to provide a rally and the FTSE still hit a four-year low, falling by 5.2 per cent or 238.53 points to 4,366.69. HSBC fell back by 2.5 per cent and Lloyds TSB dropped 6.9 per cent.
Across Europe, investors did not react positively to the rate cut, and markets fell in almost all of the western European markets. In Germany, the DAX declined by 6 per cent, with the CAC 40 decreasing by a similar amount in France.
