Shares softer as market winds down in pre-holiday trading

Irish shares were generally softer in thin trading conditions in the run-up to the Christmas holidays with two secondline stocks proving the main movers on the day.

Engineering group Powerscreen lost 27p to 613p sterling in London after a downgrade by UK broker Kleinwort Benson amid concerns about the impact of sterling strength on the Northern Ireland-based company, dealers said.

In Dublin, the share price was unchanged but dealers said the bulk of trading done by Irish brokers and institutions takes place in London.

Powerscreen recently placed three million shares at 625p per share to raise £18.75 million sterling to fund its acquisition of SDC Trailers and provide working capital. Dealers said the downgrade was disappointing coming on the back of the placing.

Moving in the opposite direction was Jones Group which gained 25p to 150p after the company announced on Friday that it was selling off its shipping concerns as the business was too expensive to run.

Jones also said it would sell off its manufacturing business and distribute the surplus cash to shareholders.

Overall, the ISEQ index of Irish shares closed 9.55 points or 0.25 per cent higher at 3,881.16 as overseas markets failed to provide much direction as they too wound down ahead of the holiday period.

Dealers said Elan, which suffered last week amid uncertainty about the impact of its £268 million acquisition of Sano Corp, bounced off its lows in US trading, gaining around $2.5. In Dublin, the share price firmed 280p to 3342p, pushing the index higher in late trade as it offset weakness in the leading domestic stocks.

But dealers said the Irish market could be volatile and susceptible to some profit-taking ahead of year-end as investors were tempted to book profits after the recent rally.

"Liquidity is not great as a lot of people are not around," one dealer said. "You can see big markdowns of stocks on light volume which creates opportunities for those with cash to put in the market."

Most of the leading stocks were slightly weaker on the day.

Bank of Ireland lost 10p to 1010p, AIB was down 7.25p at 642.75p while Irish Life dropped 5 1/4p to 355p. But Irish Permanent escaped the general downward trend in the financial sector, firming 5p to 720p.

Industrials were generally flat with Greencore steady at 335p and Smurfit up 2p at 186p although CRH shed 10p to 780p in late trade.