Dublin report:Anglo was by far the busiest stock in the Irish market yesterday, as well as being one of the most erratic performers. More than six million shares changed hands in Dublin as the stock fell almost 4 per cent, before rebounding to close up almost 1 per cent, or 11 cent, at €11.58.

UBS yesterday cut its price target for Anglo by 18 per cent, citing a slowdown in office and retail space prices in the UK. The broker is now targeting a share price for the bank of €13, compared with an earlier target of €15.98.

Elsewhere activity amongst the financials was muted, with dealers reporting little interest. AIB however was also quite volatile, falling just over 1 per cent, before closing up 1 per cent, or 17 cent, at €16.99. Meanwhile, Bank of Ireland slipped 0.4 per cent, or five cent, to end the day at €12.27.

Fruit group Fyffes was a good gainer, rising 4.3 per cent, or four cent, to 97 cent, although volume was light. It was revealed on Monday that rival Chiquita may consider selling Atlanta, its distribution business focused on the German and Austrian markets, and analysts speculated yesterday that Fyffes might be interested.

Grafton meanwhile dropped 3.1 per cent, or 24 cent, to €7.51 as dealers reported significant selling pressure on the stock. One dealer dismissed the declines as being related to the news that UK rival Travis Perkins was seeking to take 10 per cent of the Irish home improvement market within five to six years.

Building materials group CRH was also an underperformer, dropping 3.2 per cent, or 89 cent, to €26.60, a decline that dealers attributed to the cautious outlook for the aggregates market highlighted by its US peer Martin Marietta Materials.