Dublin report: It was another negative day in the Irish market yesterday, with the Iseq index of Irish shares dropping as much as 1.1 per cent before clawing back some of its losses to close three-quarters of a per cent lower.
The main contributor to the decline was Anglo Irish Bank, which, despite releasing good first-half results, fell as much 4.9 per cent. Analysts and dealers said the negative sentiment stemmed in part from disappointment in the work-in-progress figure, which some onlookers had expected to be higher than the €9.2 billion announced yesterday.
However, even before the results were released, dealers had said the shares would struggle to maintain the significant gains they had made in recent days. As many as 13 million units changed hands as the stock recovered some of its earlier losses to close down 3.7 per cent, or 63 cent, at €16.25.
Unfortunately for the index, the other financials followed suit, though the falls weren't so severe. Bank of Ireland closed down four cent, at €15.95, while AIB fell 10 cent to €22.25.
Elsewhere, both CRH and C&C added to losses they made on Wednesday, dropping 1.3 per cent and 1.6 per cent, to close at €33.90 and €12.20 respectively.
Independent News & Media was moving in the other direction, making it one of the few gainers on the day. The shares rose five cent, or 1.4 per cent, to close at €3.62 as 1.7 million shares changed hands.
Mining minnow Glencar put in a spurt on the back of positive news from its tungsten mining project in Spain. The shares jumped 10 per cent, to 18 cent.
