Market Report:"PRETTY HORRENDOUS" was how one Dublin trader described activity on the Dublin stock market yesterday, as Irish stocks lost almost 4 per cent of their value in trading. The Iseq lost 232.4 points to finish the day at 6,321.
Bank stocks fell across Europe and in the United States but, following the trend of recent months, the falls were magnified for Irish financial shares, which declined 6.2 per cent, compared with a 2.5 per cent fall in the FTSE banks index. Stocks fell globally after new figures showed that the US service sector shrank for the third consecutive month in March.
More than 16 million shares in the four main financial stocks changed hands, with Anglo Irish Bank faring worst of all, shedding 74 cent - or 7.9 per cent - to close at €8.60. Some 4.5 million shares in the bank were traded. Bank of Ireland lost 64 cent - or 6.4 per cent of its value - to €9.35, while Irish Life & Permanent dropped 77 cent, or 5.8 per cent, to finish at €12.53. AIB outperformed its financial peers in the market, closing down 3.5 per cent at €13.95.
Construction and building-related stocks also lost ground. Grafton fell 5.9 per cent to €5.89, McInerney was down 3.9 per cent to €1.21 and Kingspan also fell 3.9 per cent to €8.89 in relatively light trading.
Ryanair dropped 4.4 per cent to €2.89 as oil prices rose again, while United Drug increased 0.5 per cent to €3.70 after issuing a robust trading update despite the effect of a weaker pound on its earnings.
Independent News & Media rose 0.2 per cent to €2.15 with Sir Anthony O'Reilly and the head of the company's Irish division, Vincent Crowley, buying shares in the market and bringing total shareholdings of the company's directors to 28.55 per cent. Sir Anthony's stake stands at 27.1 per cent.
Iseq: 6,321.02 (-232.36) Settlement date: April 8th
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