Iseq down 9.6 per cent to 3,565.54:The Irish market was the victim of another severe sell-off yesterday, as markets around the world tumbled, trading in financial stocks was suspended in Iceland and Europe experienced its worst decline since the crash of October 1987.
As has become the norm, financial stocks led the slide, as Irish banks gave up the gains earned from the Government's guarantee last week, and banks around the world fell on the back of continuing concern of the stability of the sector. Overall, the Iseq lost 378.12 points, or 9.6 per cent, to fall back to 3,565.54.
Irish Life & Permanent was the worst performer on the day, as it dropped €1.50 or 23.1 per cent, to close down at €5.00.
Anglo Irish Bank wasn't far behind, as it declined by €1.10 or 21.7 per cent, to close at €3.99, while Bank of Ireland lost €0.85, or 17.5 per cent, to close at €4.00.
Allied Irish Banks was the better performing of the Irish bank stocks yesterday, although it still gave up €1.10, or 14.7 per cent, to fall back to €6.40.
Greencore was hit hard by the suspension in trading in Iceland, as Icelandic financial firm Exista has an 8 per cent share in the Irish food group. Heavy trading volumes of over 20 million saw the stock decline by €0.38 or 21.1 per cent, to €1.42.
Despite oil falling as low as $88.9 a barrel at one stage, Ryanair still performed poorly, dropping €0.19, or 8.2 per cent, to close at €2.01.
Merrion's downgrade of Elan saw the pharmaceutical firm lose €1.18, or 14.7 per cent, while construction stocks were also hit.
Grafton Group fell back by €0.32 or 9.8 per cent to €2.96, Kingspan gave up €0.50 or 7.6 per cent to close at €6.10 and CRH lost €0.47 or 3 per cent to finish the day at €15.41.
Food group Aryzta was one of the few stocks to increase yesterday, as it grew its share price by €0.55, or 2 per cent, to close at €28.55.
In the US, the Dow Jones fell below the psychological 10,000 barrier for the first time since 2004. By 12 pm, the S&P 500 had fallen back by 4.8 per cent to 1,046.9.
Europe had its worst day since October 1987, when the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 fell by 7.2 per cent to 242.5, and markets throughout the continent recorded dramatic declines, as fears over the financial crisis grew.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 closed down 7.9 per cent or 391 points to 4,589.2, the third biggest one-day drop on record, as all the major banks fell. Royal Bank of Scotland closed down by 20.5 per cent, HBOS lost 19.8 per cent and Lloyds TSB gave up 10.8 per cent.
In Germany, banks were again behind the sell-off, with troubled property bank Hypo Real Estate declining by 37 per cent. Overall, the DAX dropped 7.1 per cent.
In France, BNP Paribas' acquisition of beleaguered Belgian bank Fortis saw its share price fall by 5.4 per cent, while the CAC 40 fell by 9 per cent.
