CRH leads the way down in wave of selling as Iseq slips

Iseq:2,874.22 (–33.38) Settlement date:June 28th

THE NEWS that the Irish economy returned to growth in the first quarter of the year failed to lift the Dublin market yesterday as the Iseq finished off more than 1 per cent.

The sell-off was in line with markets across the board, with all the main European indices experiencing sharp drops as concerns about the euro zone debt crisis persisted.

Only a handful of Irish names finished the session in positive territory.

Pharmaceutical company Elan was one of the best performers, advancing 2 per cent, following news earlier this week that European drug regulators have approved a label change on multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.

Construction-related stocks saw some of the sharpest drops, with CRH shedding 3.3 per cent or 48 cents to close at €14.05.

Kingspan was down for most of the day, closing off almost 3 per cent at €6.80, a drop of 20 cent.

Energy-related stocks were hit, as the price of oil dropped following the announcement that the International Energy Agency will release 60 million barrels of oil in a bid to push down crude prices and underpin the global economy.

Tullow Oil lost 2 per cent to finish at €13.81, while Petroceltic lost 10 per cent of its value to close at just over 11 cent.

Having hit lows of €0.305 yesterday, Petroneft regained some ground, closing 2.4 per cent higher at €0.338.

On the bond markets, the yields on the sovereign debt of the so-called peripheral euro zone nations rose. Yields on Irish and Portuguese 10-year securities relative to German bunds were the highest since the euro’s introduction, with the yield on 10-year Irish Government debt hitting highs of 11.71 per cent while yields on Portuguese bonds for the same period reached 11.45 per cent.