Market Report: The ISEQ had no chance to push ahead in early trade yesterday, with news of terrorist attacks in Istanbul instantly setting a negative tone.
Settlement Day: November 25th
Most stocks tried to better themselves as the day progressed, but the overall market still closed almost a percentage point down.
Stocks involved with leisure and travel were particular losers in the general decline across Europe, with hotel groups among the worst-affected in Dublin.
Gresham closed seven cents weaker at €1.04 and Jurys Doyle fell 28 cents to €9.92. The move was compounded by the latest Deloitte Hotel Benchmark study, which pointed to a drop in hotel occupancy for October. Ryanair was also hit by the jittery mood, losing nine cents to close at 6.23 on light volume.
The financials were mostly weaker at the close, despite attempting a rally in afternoon trade. AIB finished at €12.24, down one cent, while Bank of Ireland dropped five cents to 10.30.
Anglo Irish Bank won back some ground lost earlier in the week after finding support at levels around 9.90. The bank closed at 9.93, up five cents on the day. Irish Life & Permanent was less solid, falling 15 cents to 11.80.
Elsewhere in the sector, FBD continued to climb in dramatic fashion, adding 45 cents to close at 12.70 on minimal volume. The insurance company started the week at €11.05.
With business relatively light across the board, reasonable volume came in Independent News & Media, where one million shares changed hands. Fidelity has raised its stake in the firm from 8 per cent to 10.03 per cent. Shares were unchanged at 1.86 last night.
DCC was also busy, with most volume coming at €10.80 before the stock moved down five cents to 10.75. United Drug bucked the overall trend by rising five cents to 2.38 in advance of next week's results.
Sectoral cousin Galen weakened in London, falling 25p to 734p sterling on volume of 1.2 million shares.
