Irish exchange bucks trend as markets across Europe retreat on Cyprus concerns

Concerns about the bailout of Cyprus and plans to impose a levy on bank deposits on the island resulted in Europe an stocks retreating yesterday. Banks posted the worst performance among the 19 industry groups on the Stoxx Europe 600.

Ireland bucked the trend as trading took place on the bank holiday weekend with food company Glanbia and cider and beer group C&C leading the way. DUBLIN
Nervousness about Cyprus's bailout and the possible negative implications for banks in the euro zone didn't weigh on Bank of Ireland yesterday as the stock rose by 7.9 per cent to 16.4 cent.

Glanbia was one of the biggest movers of the day, up 4.9 per cent to €8.66. This follows on from a strong set of full year results published last week. C&C broke through the €5 barrier yesterday after finishing up 4.1 per cent. The company was presenting at a consumer conference in London yesterday.

The biggest fallers were Aer Lingus , which closed down 4 per cent at €1.344, and Independent News & Media , which was down 3.65 per cent at 3.7 cent.

EUROPE
European stocks retreated, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index paring an earlier tumble after the euro area forced Cyprus to adopt a levy on bank deposits, prompting concern that the region's debt crisis will reignite.

UniCredit, Italy 's largest lender, fell while Ericsson posted its largest retreat in more than two months after agreeing to end its unprofitable chip venture with STMicroelectronics.

Eurasian Natural Resources led a decline by commodity producers as metal prices slid. The Stoxx 600 retreated 0.2 per cent to 296.81 at the close of trading, paring a slide of as much as 1.2 percent.

Cyprus and Greece closed their markets for a public holiday yesterday. "This creates a precedent and is a bit scary today," Matthieu Giuliani, who helps oversee $5.3 billion as a fund manager at Palatine Asset Management in Paris, said.

France 's CAC 40 lost 0.5 per cent, while Germany 's DAX declined 0.4 percent.

A gauge of bank shares sank 1.5 per cent for the worst performance on the Stoxx 600. UniCredit lost 3.6 per cent to 3.69 euros, while Societe General e , France's second-largest lender, slid 3.3 per cent to €28.98 . Banco Santander , Spain 's biggest bank, dropped 2.3 per cent to €5.83.

LONDON
UK stocks retreated, sending the FTSE 100 index lower for a second day after the euro area forced Cyprus to adopt an unprecedented levy on bank deposits.

Barclays and Prudential led a selloff in financial firms, both falling more than 3 percent.

The FTSE 100 lost 31.73 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 6,457.92 at the close in London for its first back-to-back loss since January. .

Barclays led a gauge of UK banks lower, losing 4.4 per cent to 305.95 pence. Royal Bank of Scotland Group slid 3.4 per cent to 297.3 pence and Lloyds Banking Group dropped 1.3 per cent to 49.85 pence.

Prudential paced declines among insurance companies, falling 3.4 per cent to 1,115 pence. Aviva retreated 0.9 per cent to 323.3 pence and Legal and General Group slipped 0.5 percent to 172.4 pence.

US
US stocks fell in early trading, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached record highs last week. Eight of 10 groups in the SandP 500 fell as financial shares dropped the most, sinking 0.7 per cent. Schlumberger retreated 3 per cent after saying North American activity was below estimates. Carnival Corp fell 2.1 percent amid analyst downgrades. Apple and Hewlett-Packard climbed more than 1.9 per cent to lead a rebound in technology shares.

The Standard and Poor's 500 Index slid 0.3 per cent to 1,555.97 at 12:42pm in New York. – Additional reporting by Bloomberg