Market Report:The Irish market held up reasonably well yesterday on what one dealer described as a pretty featureless day, closing just 0.2 per cent lower at 6,969 after a rather volatile ride.
However, while the decline itself was minimal, it was the first time in almost two years - December 1st, 2005 - that the Iseq index had closed below 7,000.
The financials put in a mixed performance, with Bank of Ireland and AIB fairly strongly as one dealer dared to suggest that the worst may be over for the Irish banks.
Bank of Ireland closed up 1.3 per cent, or 13 cents, at €10.06, while AIB climbed 1 per cent, or 15 cents, to end the day at €14.63.
Anglo Irish, meanwhile, had a very rocky ride, trading as high €9.63 and as low as €9.24 before closing at just 0.4 per cent lower, or down just 4 cents, at €9.48.
Almost 7 million shares changed hands yesterday, making it the busiest of the Irish financial stocks.
The worst performer on the day however was Paddy Power.
Shares in the bookmaker dropped 9.2 per cent, or €2.40, to close at €23.60, a decline dealers attributed to negative comments from UK peer Ladbrokes on Thursday.
Paddy Power has been one of the few outperformers in the midst of the recent turmoil in global markets. Before yesterday the shares were up 71 per cent this year.
Ryanair was also a loser, falling 2.9 per cent, or 15 cents, to end the day at €5.05. One dealer attributed the decline to a negative note from UK broker Collins Stewart on Ryanair rival EasyJet, though said nothing had fundamentally changed.
Elsewhere Kingspan and Grafton were gainers, rising 1.4 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively to close at €14.60 and €6.73.
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