Bank of Ireland and AIB drop as financials fall out of favour

The market marked the arrival of the weekend with typically slow summer trade yesterday, as most stocks struggled to lift volumes past the million mark, writes Una McCaffrey.

Among the exceptions was Bank of Ireland, which shed 14 cents to close at 10.12 after almost five million shares changed hands. The stock drifted as low as €10.10 over the day, as financial stocks in general fell out of favour.

AIB was also hit, dropping 11 cents to close at €12.64 as almost 2.5 million units were traded. Most of the trade came at 12.65, with investors taking a bet on results due from the bank next week.

Elan continued to slide on the back of Thursday's disappointing test data, losing seven cents to finish at 3.93 in reasonably quiet trade. Dealers said investors considered the stock to be stuck on a "slippery slope".

Bookmaker Paddy Power marked the other extreme as it gained 22 cents to finish at 5.72. The move came on low volume however, with just 12,000 shares traded.

Elsewhere, CRH was 10 cents stronger at €15.50, helped by US government decisions on infrastructure spending.

Ryanair was also firmer, closing up 10 cents at 5.95 as the company continued to shrug off regulatory problems at airports in France and Belgium.

Independent News & Media closed 10 cents weaker at 1.65 as 1.3 million shares were traded.

Waterford Wedgwood gained one cent to end at 27 cents, as trade in 3.2 million shares made it the busiest stock of the day.

Barlo finished one cent higher at 0.35 as shareholders at the firm's annual general meeting expressed reservations about management's attempt to take the firm private.