Iseq finishes the day flat

The Dublin market ended the session pretty much flat, bringing a slightly more upbeat end to what was a challenging week for the Irish market.

The market closed before the announcement by AIB that it has sold its stake in Bank Zachodni WBK to Spanish bank Santander.

Similarly, the results of the Central Bank and Financial Regulator's Prudential Capital Assessment Review on Irish Life & Permanent were released late in the day and had little impact on the performance of the stock.

Overall, the financials traded down for the session, in line with the European trend that saw sharp falls in banking stocks due to concerns about the impact of a share sale by Deutsche Bank.

Bank of Ireland was the most traded stock, with 12 million shares traded. It finished the session 4 per cent down at €0.68. AIB closed just slightly under at just under €0.75, with one analyst pointing out that the share price had factored in yesterday's evening announcement, as a final statement about the future of the bank's Polish unit had been expected, while the price was close to market expectations.

IL&P shed close to 2 per cent to finish at €1.60, with analysts waiting until Monday to assess the implications of the information on the institution's capital requirement.

Elsewhere, food and agrifood stocks saw decent activity. Origin added 7.5 per cent to finish at €1.70 following the announcement that Origin and Batchelors are to merge to form a new company, Valeo Foods Group. Aryzta ended the session marginally flat at €33.50.

Donegal Creameries was one of the big movers, adding almost 12 per cent to €3.75, with about 30,000 shares traded, after the company posted a strong set of first-half figures.

Food company Kerry Group shed 1. 6 per cent, ending the session at €25.82, while Glanbia added just over 1 per cent to close at €3.56.