Market Report

The Irish market traded down in line with its European counterparts yesterday, with most stocks struggling to find any real momentum.

Among the exceptions was DCC, which kicked off the winter results season with an 11 per cent drop in pre-tax profits. The company's shares took a 4 per cent battering in the wake of the numbers, despite positive comment from analysts. Dealers said profit-taking was evident as shares dropped from 11.40 to 10.95.

Barlo was the other main newsmaker on the day, with shares in the long-running MBO target closing unchanged at 34 cents on the back of reasonably good first-half numbers.

Elsewhere, business was concentrated in a handful of stocks that included the two main financials. AIB saw 4.3 million units change hands as it fell 16 cents to 12.52. The bank's Polish subsidiary, WBK, is due to report third-quarter results later in the week.

Bank of Ireland dropped three cents to 10.52 on volume of three million shares. The bank is due to report first-half numbers on Thursday, with analysts expecting positive growth across all divisions.

Irish Life & Permanent was 25 cents easier at €12.15 on lighter volume. The group's broker, Davy, yesterday raised its price target on the stock to 13.70 on a sum-of-the-parts valuation.

The busiest stock outside the financials was Independent News & Media, which is reportedly considering a bond issue. The stock climbed two cents to 1.95 as 3.4 million shares traded.

Ryanair took a rest from the Charleroi brouhaha as just 300,000 shares changed hands. The airline closed two cents stronger at €6.88. Galen, which is due to issue first-half results today, fell 10 cents to 10.50.