DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq: 2,873.20 (-9.54) Settlement date: November 30thTHE ISEQ ended 0.33 per cent lower yesterday in what was a pretty poor day for the Irish market. One trader described Ireland as the "loser" among the markets while another simply said the country had "gotten left behind" while European and global markets gained ground on the day.
The main banks did advance, although not spectacularly, according to traders. Bank of Ireland was in reasonably strong demand with 3.8 million shares crossing in one trade alone. It finished up by 2.1 per cent at € 1.70.
AIB closed at € 1.73, an increase of 3 per cent over the course of the day although activity was “quite muted” according to one commentator. Meanwhile Irish Life Permanent finished slightly ahead, adding 0.7 per cent to € 3.424.
Many of the big players had a relatively flat day. Index heavyweight CRH marked time, edging up just two cent to € 15.35 while Kerry Group and DCC both closed down at 1.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent on € 20.10 and € 18.548 respectively.
Ryanair finished down by 0.7 per cent on € 2.826 despite airlines globally closing slightly up. Aer Lingus shed 2.2 per cent on 57.6 cent. Smurfit Kappa was “under a bit of pressure”, according to traders, finishing down just over 2 per cent at € 5.80.
On the day it posted results largely in line with expectations, Greencore finished down 0.7 per cent at € 1.40. According to one broker, there was nothing to drive the stock after recent speculation over the sale of the company’s malt division and questions surrounding Liam Carroll’s stock.
However, there was one disclosure relating to Millgate Master Fund, which disclosed it has reduced its stake from 3.8 per cent to less than 3 per cent of stock.
Ahead of its latest egm today, Independent News Media dropped 2 per cent to end the session at 16 cent.
