The Dublin market slid back on what traders called a quiet day as European stocks generally fell back as more economic data pointed towards a weakening in the recovery.
The benchmark Iseq index of Irish shares was down almost 0.6 per cent at 2780.77 at the close of trade with the banks and CRH once again leading the way down.
In Europe, the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 was off 0.7 per cent at 263.81 earlier as UK retail sales figures for August showed a 0.5 per cent decline on the previous month and data from the US indicated that manufacturing output may be slowing.
In Dublin, both AIB and Bank of Ireland slipped by more than 3 per cent. Dealers said that a reweighting of London’s FTSE 250 index due tomorrow will be bad news for AIB as it will have to be reweighted.
There were plenty of sellers around, with the bank closing 3.19 per cent down 69.7 cent. Similarly, Bank of Ireland was 3.62 per cent at 66.5 cent as investors moved out of that stock as well.
The reweighting exercise is likely to boost the fortunes of titanium miner, Kenmare, which is to be included in the FTSE 250 and all-share indeces for the first time.
The stock didn’t move in Dublin today, and fell 2 per cent in London 21.25 pence sterling. However, it reached its current level over the last week after increasing by more than 50 per cent.
Volumes have also multiplied, with 21 million shares changing hands in London today, up to last week, that would have been around the two million mark.
However, dealers observed that this will also mean that much of the activity in the stock is going to shift to London, which could mean a loss of business for Dublin.
CRH was weak throughout the day, trading at between €13 and €13.10, before closing down 0.57 per cent at €12.995. The international building materials group received a fillip last week when US president, Barack Obama, announced plans for further infrastructure building, but it slipped back again since as it emerged Mr Obama had no guarantee of getting the plan through the US Congress.
There was a bit of activity in Ryanair, which went ex dividend this week (it is due to pay its first dividend since going public to shareholders next month). The stock finished almost 0.7 per cent down at €3.767, but dealers said that it outperformed its peers.
