Financials the main losers as Iseq underperforms

The market underperformed its European peers yesterday, losing 0.8 per cent amid decent volumes. There were suggestions that a programme seller was at play, with all of the main names taking something of a hit.

The financials as a whole finished 1.4 per cent weaker, with Bank of Ireland coming off worst at the finish. Shares in the bank were down 31 cent at €13.63. AIB dropped by 34 cent to €18.40 while Anglo Irish fell by 10 cent to €11.45. Anglo, which was upgraded by Goldman Sachs, was the busiest of the three, with 4.5 million shares changing hands.

Irish Life & Permanent bucked the sectoral trend by closing 10 cent stronger at €17.65.

CRH moved lower along with the larger banks, shedding 30 cent to end the day at €25.15 despite of a positive trading update from US peer, Eagle Materials. Elan had a good day as investors digested news of Tysabri's relaunch in the US. Goodbody said the pricing for the drug was better than expected. Shares rose by 39 cent to €10.94.

C&C looked for much of the day to be taking a breather from its rising trend, probably as a result of profit taking. Strength returned as the session drew to a close, however, with shares finishing five cent higher at €8.35.

Ryanair continued to attract attention in advance of next week's results, with 2.4 million shares traded. The stock dropped three cent to €7.82, despite being upgraded by Morgan Stanley.

Kingspan fell by 12 cent to €13.08 on unremarkable volume. The Competition Authority said yesterday that it would conduct a full investigation into the company's €87 million purchase of Navan-based Xtratherm.

Grafton shed 16 cent to close at €9.94.

Fyffes was also under some pressure, with shares declining by four cent to €1.40. IAWS weakened too, falling by 18 cent to €13.92.

A better performance came from Qualceram, which added seven cent, or 5.8 per cent, to close at €1.28.