The Dublin market was described by traders as “friendless” today, as buyers steered clear of the Iseq on the eve of Budget 2010. The index tumbled more than 3 per cent, with almost all of its leading stocks ending the day in the red.
Banking stocks bore the brunt of the damage on what was a dismal day across global markets. "Irish banks struggled all day," one trader said. "There were very few buyers around."
Irish Life & Permanent sank almost 12 per cent - or 44 cent - to €3.33. AIB also came under pressure, shedding more than 7 per cent - 11 cent - to €1.41. Bank of Ireland wasn't immune to the sell-off either, and was more than 3 per cent lower at €1.56.
IFG was the only stock to make any real progress on the day, adding almost 5.5 per cent - or 7 cent - to close at €1.36.
Pretty much the only stock-specific news on the day came from exploration company Tullow Oil which released a positive drilling update relating to a well in Ghana, but the stock only bounced 2 pence on the London Stock Exchange to £12.67.
Meanwhile the two biggest constituents of the Iseq - CRH and Ryanair - both lost the best part of 4 per cent, closing at just under €17.42 and €2.97 respectively. This further depressed the index, which sank 91.21 points to 2,872.37.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index was down 1.7 per cent, Germany's DAX was 1.7 per cent lower and France's CAC 40 was down 1.4 per cent.
(Additional reporting - Reuters)