Ryanair pulls out of plunge as market stabilises

Market Report: Stocks around the world fell yesterday in the wake of a security alert that prompted the cancellation of hundreds of flights in and out of London airports. British police said they had foiled a plot to blow up aircraft mid-flight between Britain and the United States.

Shares in the UK and Ireland were hit severely, though managed to recover some ground towards the end of the day. In Ireland most stocks, including all the heavyweights, still ended the day in negative territory.

Ireland's only listed airline, Ryanair, had a particularly busy day, taking a significant downward plunge early in the day and then gaining some altitude as investors decided the declines made it an attractive stock after all and that the terrorism-related fears were only temporary. Some dealers also speculated that the ban on passengers taking drinks onto planes may boost the airline's sales of refreshments. Almost 5 million shares changed hands in Dublin alone, with a further 4 million-plus trading in London.

At one point the stock was down as much as 36 cent, though recovered towards the end to close down just 11 cent, or 1.5 per cent, at €7.44.

The financials were also hit, with reasonable volumes in both Allied Irish and Bank of Ireland contributing to the declines. Allied fell 30 cent, or 1.5 per cent, to end the day at €19.55, while Bank of Ireland was down 22 cent, also equal to 1.5 per cent, at €14.23. About 2.3 million shares changed hands in both stocks.

Meanwhile a bit of profit taking pushed Anglo shares down 9 cent, or 0.8 per cent, to €11.51. Irish Life & Permanent ended the day unchanged at €19.45.

Building materials group CRH was not only hit by the general negative sentiment, but also by some poor figures from a US rival. The shares slipped 39 cent, or 1.5 per cent, to close at €25.61.

C&C was, for a change, among the losers yesterday. Still it managed to mitigate its losses at just 9 cent, ending the day down 1 per cent, at €8.63.