Iseq falls on 'volatile day'

A volatile day, partly due to a reweighting of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index, left the Irish market trailing once again today.

The Iseq index of Irish shares finished 0.35 per cent down at 2,646, a poorer performance than the European Stoxx 600, which dropped 0.1 per cent to close at 261.83.

The fall in the European benchmark, which tracks leading stocks in 18 different markets, meant that it lost 1.6 per cent over the month of November, its first decline since August.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 shed just under 0.44 per cent to end the day at 5528.27.

In Dublin, there were mixed fortunes for the banks, as investors clearly plumped for Irish Life & Permanent, the institution that looks less likely than its peers to end up under the State's wing.

The retail bank and life assurer added 22.1 per cent to close at an even euro and dealers said that it generated better than average volumes.

Bank of Ireland gained 2.28 per cent to close at 31.4 cent, although there was no particular reason given for investor interest.

AIB was left out of the party, shedding 2.82 per cent to close at 34.5 cent, the bank is destined to be more than 90 per cent owned by the State when the recapitalisation process is finished.

In the real economy, the cold weather allowed the energy and distribution business, DCC to generate a fair bit of heat.

The company, which has oil and gas distribution businesses in Ireland and Britain, ended the day 0.4 per cent down at €20.12, but had actually hit €20.50, from an opening quote of €20.20, during the day.

Building materials giant, CRH, which is due to announced a $650 million bond issue once New York closes, shed 1.47 per cent to close at €13.40, dealers said that the stock is underperforming its sector.

Despite hints that the Government is considering ditching the departure tax on airline tickets, low-cost airline, Ryanair was weak, dipping 0.77 per cent to close at €3.851.

However, its smaller rival, Aer Lingus, gained 2.97 per cent to reach €1.04. Dealers said that there is some speculation that that the State will sell its remaining shares in the one-time flag carrier.

Greencore, which is due to go ex-dividend tomorrow and on the road to a €2 billion merger with rival Northern Foods, added 4.8 per cent to close at €1.42.