The major stocks on the Dublin market are down in early trade this morning with the ISEQ as a whole down 1 per cent in early trade.
Market heavyweight CRH is down again with its shares dropping by 28 cents to €33.82 by 9.05am.
According to traders the figures released on by Mexican cement producer Cemex, which reflect weakness in the US market have placed CRH under severe pressure.
Also down this morning are the major banks with AIB off 22 cents at €19.23; Bank of Ireland down 15 cents to €14.1, Anglo is off marginally at €14.2 and Irish Life and Permanent shares are down 14 cents at €18.25.
Other fallers include Elan, down 61 cents to €14 and Ryanair, off just two cents €4.94. Analysts note that the performance of the Irish equity market has been particularly disappointing this year and is now trading at a discount of more than 10 per cent to the European average.
Uncertainty as to the extent of the fall in output in the Irish housing sector is a factor as is the capacity of the rest of economy to counterbalance the downturn.