Share prices drift lower in the absence of real selling pressure

The fall-out in Hong Kong might have sent London tumbling, but the reaction in Dublin was muted with share prices drifting lower…

The fall-out in Hong Kong might have sent London tumbling, but the reaction in Dublin was muted with share prices drifting lower without any real selling pressure.

Blue-chips on the London market might have a big exposure to the Hong Kong economy, but probably the only link-up between the Irish and Hong Kong market is that Hong Kong has a Kerry Group - a property company.

Bank of Ireland was the most actively traded stock in Dublin but dealt in a narrow range before finally closing down 1p on 872p, while AIB was unchanged on 597p.

Anglo Irish remained firmly bid on 115p, Irish Life was 3p higher on 378p while Irish Permanent was 5p lower on 665p.

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Among the industrials, Fyffes moved 1p higher to 105p but the market has still to show any significant appreciation of the share-buying by the McCann family.

Jurys - one of the best performers of the past week - ran out of steam and closed down 10p on 450p, while Smurfit moved 4p stronger despite the lower opening in New York. Ryanair was 7p lower on 375p while Norwich Union reached a milestone in Dublin when it dealt up 15p to a new high of 400p.

Irish gilts tracked German bonds lower in thin trade with little economic news of any consequence to drive markets one way or the other. Losses at the long end of the market were as much as 45p with the 2015 benchmark stock closing on a yield of 6.27 per cent while 10-year gilts closed on a yield of 6.11 per cent.