Iseq lower on slow 'summer's day' trading

Brokers described this morning as a “real summer’s day trading” on the Dublin market with light volumes and little news to shake the market.

At 12.44pm the Iseq index of 62 stocks was down just over 1 per cent at 4,444, a drop of 56 points.

What movement there was this morning came from Anglo Irish Bank which traded up at €6.60 this morning before easing back to €6.41, down 0.5 per cent on the day by early afternoon.  

Analysts said the intra-day volatility on the Irish market remains "extraordinary" although in the case of Anglo much of the dealing was seen as coming from short-covering as short positions are called in.

Other banking stocks were weaker too, with Irish Life and Permanent off 1.7 per cent at €6.14 and Bank of Ireland down just under 1 per cent at €6.03. AIB was the only gainer, adding 2 cents to €9.02.

Shares in Kerry Group, which added over 6 per cent yesterday, gave up most of those gains to fall back 4.8 per cent to €19.04 by the midpoint.

Brokers said the tone and nature of the comments from the ECB could spark the market into life this afternoon. The ECB left its interest rate unchanged at 4.25 per cent.