DUBLIN REPORT:"REALLY DEAD as a doornail" was how one exasperated trader described trading volumes in Dublin yesterday. With lower than normal activity the hallmark of the local stock market in 2008, it is little wonder that traders are starting to be frustrated.
At least yesterday there were some major movers on the Iseq to retain interest.
Anglo Irish Bank was the hardest hit of the financials and was down 4.29 per cent to €8.68 at the end of the session. One trader said there was market talk about the bank trading back to its net asset value which would drive the share down to €6.50.
Yesterday's sell-off in Anglo was precipitated by a statement from its German peer Hypo Real Estate's chief executive Georg Funke that this year's profit target is becoming "more difficult" to achieve.
Although there was nothing obvious driving the movement, biotech group Elan was another major faller, losing over a euro in value to close at €12.10.
Grafton Group's earnings and guidance were broadly in line with expectations. The building supplies group confirmed that trading was down in Ireland and that Britain was driving growth. As a result, traders were not surprised that the stock finished at €5.23, exactly where it had opened.
A stronger set of numbers for IAWS and its spin-out Origin Enterprises benefited both stocks. IAWS was up 31 cent to €13.76 while Origin had even more of a bounce, up 57 cent to €5.07. The market repsonded well to reassurances that any increase in input prices at the food group were being passed on to customers.
Independent News & Media was down slightly at €1.79. Telecoms entrepreneur Denis O'Brien brought his stake past the 20 per cent threshold and more shares are to come on the market as Dow Jones indices are reconfigured.
ISEQ: 6,104.52 (-55.42) Settlement date: March 13th
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