Iseq sees subdued day's trading

It was subdued day of trading on equities as the dour outlook for the global economy kept investors out of the markets. The Irish bourse was down 0.7 per cent as one Dublin trader reported that buying and selling volumes were down about 25 per cent on average.

The grim diagnosis pushed Bank of Ireland 3.5 per cent lower, despite comments from US investor Wilbur Ross, a recent arrival on its share register with a 9 per cent stake, that more "normalised" funding was required for the bank to pass on ECB interest rate cuts. The share price fell to 8.4 cent.

Building materials group CRH dropped 3.7 per cent, or 50 cent, to €13 a share, reflecting investor concerns about the future of the global economy.

Bookmaker Paddy Power offered one of the few bright highlights on an overcast day of trading, as the share price rose 2.8 per cent or €1.10 to €40.70 a share ahead of the company issuing a trading update tomorrow.

Analysts are expecting an upgrade to the company's performance figures following the update.

Ryanair bucked the trend for airlines generally as the share price climbed 0.2 per cent or almost 1 cent to €3.66 as investors continued to buy up the stock following a road show last week.

Aer Lingus was less fortune, falling 5.3 per cent or almost 4 cent to just under 72 cent.

European shares and the euro fell again today as investors renewed their selling of Italian and Spanish bonds. Further political uncertainty meant the new leaders in Italy and Greece enjoyed only a short-lived relief from investors.

Italian 10-year bond yields lingered above 7 per cent today, a borrowing level regarded as unsustainable and the cost at which Ireland and Greece succumbed to external bailouts by the EU and IMF.

The yield spreads on French, Austrian and Belgian 10-year bonds over the same benchmark German debt all reached euro-era highs as fears about the euro zone debt crisis spread further afield.

Spain's 10-year yield rose to 6.3 per cent over uncertainty ahead of this Sunday's general election.

Further volatility left the FTSE 100 Index in London broadly flat, while US stocks fell. Banks were among the worst hit as the S&P financial index fell 0.5 per cent.

Fears of a default in the euro zone intensified after figures showed the 17 countries in the currency area grew just 0.2 per cent in the third quarter of the year.

National benchmark indexes fell in 14 of the 18 western- European markets. France's CAC 40 Index lost 1.9 per cent and Germany's Dax Index dropped 0.9 per cent.