Market Report

Settlement Date: January 29th: The market closed modestly lower but trading was dampened by a combination of war fears, euro gains and Wall Street weakness, which held back European stock markets.

"There were very few stocks in positive territory while there was no liquidity outside of the main stocks," one dealer said. "We are likely to be stuck in a rut until clarity emerges on overseas issues."

Ryanair was among the biggest losers on the day, shedding 12 cents to €6.16, having briefly touched a low of €6.00.

Dealers said it was hit by the nervousness in the airline sector over the prospect of war with Iraq, although analysts continue to believe that the impact on the low-cost airline of any outbreak of war in the Middle East should be limited.

Jurys also suffered from the growing fears of war, shedding 10 cents to €7.27.

CRH remained out of favour, closing 15 cents lower at €11.50 as sentiment towards the building materials sector remained poor.

Dealers also noted that stocks with dollar exposure, such as CRH, were suffering as the euro continued to notch up gains against the US currency, hitting a three-year high of more than $1.08. Kerry Group also closed seven cents lower at €12.25.

The banking stocks turned in a mixed performance with AIB down nine cents at €12.81 while Bank of Ireland was up 10 cents to €9.75 and Irish Life & Permanent added 12 cents to €10.65.

Anglo Irish Bank lost six cents to €6.80 despite issuing an upbeat trading statement at its annual meeting where it said it looked forward to "a very strong out-turn" for the year to September while it also expects to meets its targets in 2004.

Riverdeep was little changed, closing one cent lower at €1.38.