Dublin report:Shares tumbled again in Dublin yesterday as the market was afflicted by negative sentiment globally on the back of fears for the US economy and interest rates. In its now familiar pattern, losses on the Iseq significantly outpaced those of other European markets.

All the leaders spent the day trying to recover sharp losses that kicked in at the opening bell, though Independent News & Media chairman Sir Anthony O'Reilly took advantage to add to his holding in the company in an increasingly personal battle with telecoms entrepreneur Denis O'Brien.

Sir Anthony bought one million shares at just over €2.27 a share to increase his stake to 26.37 per cent. That was enough to push the stock ahead 4.5 cent or 2 per cent, to €2.26, making it one of the few gainers on the day.

Another stock in the black was C&C which recovered some poise following the battering it took last Friday, adding 12 cent or 3.24 per cent to close on €3.82.

But those were rare upsides on a day when red ink dominated the screens. AIB took a 3.5 per cent hit as it closed 55 cent down on €15.13. Bank of Ireland fared even worse, dropping through the €10 threshold to close on €9.95, down 3.7 per cent or 38 cent. Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Life & Permanent did not escape, shedding 22.5 and 24 cent respectively to finish on €10.73 and €12.13.

Construction stocks continued to struggle with Kingspan, in particular, being subject to what one trader called "aggressive selling" that drove the price down to €13.20 at one point before it recovered to end at €13.35, a loss of 90 cent. The company is due to issue a trading statement this morning. Grafton also found some support towards the end of the day, rallying from €5.30 to close 20 cent or 3.6 per cent down at €5.40.