The Iseq index today slipped below the 3,000 mark at one point on a day that saw European markets plummet as fears over sovereign risk grew.
One broker reported that it was "all red on the screens", as the Iseq fell 2.4 per cent to finish at 3,035.56. "Obviously there are a lot of fears out there about Europe."
"People were just getting out," another trader said. "Things have had a good run, but most of that's been given up now."
In its morning note, Bloxhams stockbrokers said that because of "hideous" declines in US stock markets overnight (the Dow Jones recorded the biggest intraday fall since 1987), investor nervousness was likely to intensify, especially towards financial stocks. Although it emerged that this precipitous drop may have been caused by a trading error, several Irish financials were hit hard.
AIB was off more than 10 per cent, or 13 cent, at €1.11, while Irish Life & Permanent slid about 6 per cent to just below €2.30.
Results issued today by Smurfit Kappa were ahead of consensus expectations and showed that the packaging group has made a strong start to the year. Nonetheless the stock got caught up in the downward momentum that prevailed on the Irish market and by the close was off more than 5 per cent, or 38 cent, at €6.95.
The Iseq's two heavy hitters in term of index weighting, CRH and Ryanair, were also down. The cement stock was off more than 4 per cent to €17.75, while the low-cost airline lost 3.6 per cent to close just above €3.37.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index fell 3.9 per cent, Germany's DAX lost 3.3 per cent and France's CAC 40 slumped 4.6 per cent. Around €92 billion was wiped off the three indexes today.
Additional reporting - Reuters