Market Report: Share prices in Dublin moved lower again but managed to fare better than European markets. The downward drift in the price of CRH, Ryanair and Grafton was responsible for the bulk of the overall decline yesterday. The ISEQ index ended almost 40 points down at 4,654.51.
Settlement Day: October 25th
CRH was hit earlier this week by concerns about the impact of higher interest rates on the construction market in the UK. Adverse movements in the dollar also took their toll yesterday sending the shares 44 cent lower to end at 15.65.
Ryanair shares lost 22 cent moving back to 5.57 having enjoyed a strong rally in recent days both in Dublin and New York. Market sources suggest the slide was more reflective of investors taking profits with most expecting the stock may make further progress ahead of its next set of results in early November.
Grafton which had also powered ahead this week suffered a set back with the shares losing 23 cent to 5.10. It was affected by the prospect of higher UK interest rates.
Among the finanial stocks, Anglo Irish Bank finally ran out of steam with the shares dropping back by 18 cent to 10.27 on the back of profit-taking. AIB and Bank of Ireland managed to make modest gains notwithstanding the decline in value of UK and European financial stocks.
AIB gained 8 cent to end at 12.35 while Bank of Ireland closed one cent better at 10.43. Irish Life and Permanent put in the strongest performance in the sector with the stock gaining 15 cent to close at 11.85. First Active remained unchanged at 6.11.
Elan was weaker at 4.30, down 27 while Independent News & Media rose by 3 cent to €1.81.
The biggest appreciation on the day was Trinity Biotech which added 35 cent to 3.50.
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