The stock market value of Allied Irish Banks is now lower than half what it was less than a year ago after continued heavy selling saw almost €700 million (£550 million) wiped off the value of financial shares in Dublin yesterday.
Shareholders in AIB and Bank of Ireland were left nursing heavy losses - with AIB down £400 million alone - amid fears of further interest rate rises. The US Federal Reserve raised rates by 0.25 per cent last night and indicated that more increases were on the way.
The European Central Bank may also edge interest rates in the euro zone upwards when it meets in Frankfurt today.
But as holders of financial stocks faced further misery, another group of shareholders - in the Irish e-commerce Trintech - were cheering their good fortune after the value of the firm soared on the NASDAQ market in New York yesterday.
The main beneficiaries were the founders of the company, millionaire brothers Mr Cyril McGuire and Mr John McGuire, the value of whose combined stake peaked by more than $100 million during the day to reach around $670 million.
Trintech shares soared 25 per cent to a high of $77 after the group announced a link with mobile phone giant Motorola.
The heavy selling of financial stocks saw AIB closing yesterday on €8.73 (£6.88). This means the shares have fallen more than 20 per cent since the beginning of the year and are now worth more than 50 per cent less than they were less than a year ago when AIB peaked at €18.15 (£14.29).
At its closing price of €6.25, Bank of Ireland is also 20 per cent below its end-1999 level and the share is down more than 40 per cent from last year's high of €10.50 (£8.27).
Those 1999 peaks were scaled on speculation that AIB might become a takeover target and on foot of Bank of Ireland abortive merger talks with the British bank Alliance & Leicester.