Banks underperform in light trading

Dublin reportIt was a game of trade and wait yesterday on the Irish Stock Exchange, as the day's events unfolded in the knowledge that an interest rate decision from the US Federal Reserve was due later that evening after the European markets had closed.

The Iseq index fell by three-quarters of a percentage point, having started the day on a positive note, but it traded off in the afternoon in line with international markets as no positive impetus was provided by the US markets.

Volumes were far from spectacular, with AIB managing 3.9 million, Bank of Ireland seeing 2.2 million of its shares exchanging hands and Anglo Irish Bank's volume barely exceeding two million.

The banks all underperformed the market, with Irish Life & Permanent coming off the worst, falling almost 3.5 per cent to close at €13.74, ahead of its scheduled pre-close trading statement on Thursday. AIB came off the lightest of the banks, finishing down just 1.3 per cent at €15.89.

Elsewhere, the building-related sector held up well, with Grafton Group increasing its share price by almost 3 per cent to close at €6.34, while builders McInerney also posted a climb, rising almost 4 per cent to €1.33. Building materials group Kingspan rose 2.6 per cent to €14.88, up 38 cent. CRH performed well for most of the day, but was under pressure in the final hours of trading, which meant that it closed down 9 cent at €26.74.

There was good volume in United Drug, with 1.1 million shares trading, although the stock finished off 2 per cent at €3.76.

There was not much activity in Greencore, which announced a change in its management yesterday, with chief executive David Dilger due to retire at the end of March 2008.