The Irish market treaded water today as the US debt stand-off looked set to continue into the weekend, and European corporate results continued to disappoint.
Index bellwether CRH faced an uphill battle as results in its sector once again emphasised the weak outlook for the US construction market, to which it has a large exposure. However, the cement giant shrugged off any negative read-through from the results of its peers HeidelbergCement and Saint Gobain, and it climbed to a high of €13.80 during today’s session. The stock had pared its gains by the close, but was still six cent ahead at €13.70.
Builders’ merchant and DIY retailing group Grafton came under pressure after UK peer Travis Perkins issued a cautious trading update, and it slipped as low as €2.82 at one point. It had recovered somewhat by the closing bell, finishing about five cent off at €2.91, on decent volume.
Drug maker Elan compounded the losses incurred on Thursday, shedding more than 5 per cent, or 43 cent, to finish at €7.82. The stock got an initial bounce after reporting its second-quarter results on Wednesday but fell out of favour with investors as the week advanced.
In the food sector, ingredients group Glanbia closed eight cent off at just under €4.57. Bakery business Aryzta rose more than 3 per cent, or €1.17, to €37.57, albeit on light volume.
Overall the Iseq closed about 0.14 per cent lower at 2,821.28. The UK's FTSE 100 Index slid 0.5 per cent and Germany's DAX Index dropped 0.1 per cent. France's CAC 40 Index lost 0.7 per cent.
Additional reporting - Bloomberg
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