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After out-performing European markets on Friday, the Irish index of shares fell this afternoon, weighed down by bank shares.

By 2.12pm, the Iseq was trading at 2,966.93, down 20.25 points.

Financial stocks were weaker today, with both AIB and Bank of Ireland showing losses. By 2.05pm, AIB had lost 5.9 per cent, trading at €1.82. There was some speculation over the weekend about the possibility that former head of the National Treasury Management Agency Michael Somers would become deputy chairman of the bank, with Colm Doherty as a potential managing director

Bank of Ireland fell 4.6 per cent to €1.79, while Irish Life & Permanent 4.3 per cent to €4.45.

Kingspan performed strongly this afternoon, rising 3.8 per cent to €5.60 following a positive trading update. The firm said this morning its operating profit for the year would be in the region of €60 million, ahead of some analysts' forecasts. The company said trading conditions had steadied, and the profit forecast was attributed to minimal price rises in raw materials and the

Shares in Paddy Power were up marginally, rising 0.7 per cent to €24.80 just after 2pm. The company recently announced a deal with French gaming operator Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) to manage risk and pricing for the PMU’s planned sports betting service, which is due to launch next year. Traders said the deal was significant as it was the firm's first business to business deal, and could be worth as much as could be worth €5 million in revenue by 2012.

Shares in Independent newspapers were also trading up today, adding 2.6 per cent over the session to 19.5 cent. On Friday, UK newspaper circulation data for October showed little change for the media group's titles. The Independent and the Independent on Sunday are both are down on a year-on-year basis, at -6.95 per cent and -5.4 per cent respectively. Analysts noted freesheet London Lite, which was owned by DMGT, left the market on Friday, the second significant exit from the London freesheet market since September.

"With IN&M gradually progressing through the management re-structuring plan, the banks and bondholders, rather than Denis O’Brien, are likely to have a significant say over the direction of the UK franchise in the future," Goodbody analyst Gerry Hennigan wrote in a note.

Elsewhere, European shares pared gains after briefly touching a 13-month high in early afternoon trade, after the New York Federal manufacturing index fell in November, although US retail sales rose faster than expected.

By 1407 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.9 per cent at 1,028.54 points, after hitting a 13-month high of 1,031.41.

Banks were the biggest risers on the index. HSBC, Banco Santander, Credit Suisse and UBS were up 1 to 2.4 percent.