International events continued to shape the domestic market today, as the ISEQ index was dragged down by investor weakness as widening international bond spreads and serious concerns about the state of some euro zone economies weighed on market sentiment.
While the ISEQ remained in negative territory for most of the day, the market did manage to a rally slightly into the close, with the index finishing 67 points lower.
However, only a fraction of stocks managed to end the day in positive territory.
CRH, the largest constituent on the index, set the tone for the day, losing 2.6 per cent to finish at ¤19.51 after the building supplies group said that sales fell 23.5 per cent during the first two months of the year.
Financials contined to lose ground after a bad day on Tuesday. Irish Life and Permanent was the worst performer in the sector, losing almost 8 per cent to finish at €2.60. Bank of Ireland and AIB also fell, shedding 3 per cent and just under 4 per cent respectively.
Traders noted a pull-back in cyclical names, as profit-taking took hold. Kerry Group fell by almost 4 per cent to close at €22.50 despite having announced in a trading update ahead of its AGM today a 5.9 per cent growth in sales compared with the same quarter last year.
Building materials group Grafton lost a hefty 4 per cent or 15 cent to close at €3.44, while Kingspan lost 19 cent to €6.64.
As the volcanic ash crisis continued to affect air travel, the two airline stocks lost ground, although analysts noted that they held up relatively well considering the potential impact of the continuing crisis. Aer Lingus lost 1.5 per cent to finish at €0.68, while Ryanair, which saw decent volume, lost close to 2 per cent to finish at €3.55.
Independent News & Media, DCC and United Drugs were some of the few stocks to gain ground on a very weak day for the market.
