The bloodbath feared all weekend after Wall Street's heavy fall on Friday night failed to materialise yesterday. The Irish market managed to recover some of its early 2.5 per cent losses but still closed very weak with little support from investors despite the market's heavy under-performance.
Industrial shares, for a change, took the brunt of the selling, with CRH - heavily exposed to the US economy - down 77 cents to €17.65 (£13.90). Smurfit - also exposed to US interest rates - fell 6 1/2 cents to €2.55 (£2.01) and was not assisted by a downgrade from ratings agency S&P. The biggest of the industrials, Eircom, fell 11 cents to €3.89 (£3.06) - just below the July flotation price.
The major financial shares bounced back strongly from the early weakness, with Bank of Ireland down just 3 cents on €7.80 (£6.14) after opening at €7.50 (£5.91). AIB opened at €11.60 (£9.29) before ending the day 27 cents lower on €11.80 (£9.29).
Irish Life & Permanent - which will launch a €600 million mortgage securitisation tomorrow, the biggest by an Irish lender - was 5 cents lower on €10.20 (£8.03) while First Active lost 10 cents to €2.60 (£1.97).
There was little activity in second-liners, but Anglo Irish lost 8 cents to €2.17 (£1.71), Greencore was 5 cents easier on €2.80 (£2.21) while Tullow was 3 cents lower on €0.82 (£0.65).
The highlight in New York was the heavy profit-taking in Iona after its huge gains late last week. Various new product announcements failed to maintain Iona's impetus and the share was down over $5 at around $19 as the Irish market closed.
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