Decision to bring forward budget drags down market

MARKET REPORT:POOR MACROECONOMIC data abounded yesterday, as an increase in unemployment, a tumble in new home registrations and the Government's decision to bring forward the Budget all dragged down the Irish market.

Although the Iseq bounced off its lows from earlier in the day, it still finished the day down, dropping by 82.48 points or 1.8 per cent to 4,521.89. Overall, it was a volatile day with low volumes.

Financials followed the European trend of a weak opening, although they managed to claw back most of their losses by the end of the day.

Bank of Ireland nearly recovered fully on the day, closing down just 3 cent or 0.5 per cent to €5.73, while Anglo Irish Bank did likewise, finishing the day down 2 cent or 0.4 per cent to € 5.71. AIB however, fell by 21 cent or 2.4 per cent, to € 8.70

The star performer on the day was Irish Life Permanent, which outperformed its peers to climb 25 cent or 3.9 per cent to €6.65. The company is currently on a roadshow, which might be feeding back into the value of the stock.

CRH saw some profit-taking yesterday, as it gave up some of its gains from the previous day to drop 30 cent or 1.6 per cent to €18.68.

Grafton declined by 11 cent or 2.9 per cent to fall back to € 3.69, while Kingspan added to its previous gains, advancing by 10 cent, or 1.2 per cent, to €8.40.

Paper and packaging firm Smurfit Kappa dropped 36 cent or 7.6 per cent to fall to € 4.35 on the back of a poor performance from its UK peer DS Smith.

Despite falling oil prices, Ryanair dropped 11 cent to fall back by 3.8 per cent to € 2.76, while Aer Lingus finished the day up 2 cent, or 1.2 per cent, at € 1.65.

Good interim results from Total Produce saw its share price remain steady at €0.55.