The holiday season continued to dog the ISEQ and yesterday's muted trading failed to be affected by confirmation that US inflation was still under control or the expectation that Federal Reserve officials are unlikely to exceed the imposition of a quarter-point rise in short-term lending rates next week. Other European bourses also reacted cautiously as profit-takers moved in towards the close of trading. The ISEQ was back 0.35 per cent as negative sentiment continued to affect the financials amid some expectation that domestic interest rates may be increasingly affected by international developments.
AIB was back 10 cents to €11.85 (£9.33) and Bank of Ireland eased back 13 cents to €8.62 (£6.79), while only Irish Life & Permanent managed to move into positive territory, moving up eight cents to €9.50 (£7.48).
Overall, however, volumes were small although some trading in London had Telecom Eireann move up 31/2 cents to €4.38 (£3.45) despite British telecom companies Vodafone, AirTouch and BT moving back 3 per cent. "There is not a whole lot going on one way or the other. They are not necessarily tracking the international market," one dealer said of Telecom.
Among the industrials, attention yesterday was centred on Smurfit which again held onto its €2.85 (£2.24) price after good box shipment figures were released. Independent also attracted interest, slipping by five cents to €4.35 (£3.43), but demand remains at current levels after APN News, the Australian publisher in which it has a 41.6 per cent stake, reported a rise in interim profits.
Clondalkin continued to flourish as shareholders waited for further news on the management buy-out proposal. The print and packaging group nudged up another five cents to €8.50 (£6.69).
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