Iseq sheds 1% after zig-zag day

The Irish market was once again caught up in the global equity sell-off today, shedding more than 1 per cent over the course of a zig-zag session.

The Iseq was sharply lower when the market opened this morning, dipping below the 2,400 level. It recovered in the afternoon as rumours circulated that the US Federal Reserve may hold a meeting over the weekend, and EU commissioner Olli Rehn indicated that a euro bond solution might yet be on the cards.

However, German chancellor Angela Merkel's renewed rejection of this idea triggered a last minute sell-off before markets closed for the week.

Bank of Ireland proved an outperformer on a day that saw European banks bear the brunt of the sell-off. The lender inched ahead to 9.2 cent amid speculation that the stock will be re-weighted in some FTSE indexes next Monday evening to take account of the fact that the State's stake in the institution will now only be 15 per cent.

Index bellwether CRH, which is heavily exposed to the US economy, has been struggling all week and fell another 3 per cent, or 34 cent, today to €11.11.

Ryanair enjoyed some early gains after announcing it had bought and cancelled some 16 million of its own shares, which will have come as good news to shareholders. However the carrier was a touch softer at just under €3.09 at the close.

National benchmark indexes declined in all 18 western European markets except Portugal. The Iseq finished 1.4 lower at 2,419.77. France's CAC 40 lost 1.5 per cent, the UK's FTSE 100 slid 0.8 per cent and Germany's DAX dropped 1.7 per cent.