US data knock stuffing out of Iseq

Dublin reportShares made good headway yesterday morning, breaking back through the 7,000 level, only to come undone following a poorly received non-farm payrolls report from the United States.

The US data knocked the stuffing out of an Iseq index that had been 1.6 per cent ahead at lunchtime, taking just 10 minutes to wipe out all the day's gains. At one point, the index turned almost 1.5 per cent weaker before recovering some ground to finish fractionally off on the day - a performance that ranked well alongside its international peers.

Financial stocks, in particular, lost ground in afternoon trading after a reasonably positive start to the day. Anglo Irish Bank fared worst, shedding 27 cent or 2.5 per cent to close on €10.38. Bank of Ireland also finished in the red while AIB and Irish Life & Permanent held on to some of their earlier gains.

There was even less light for Ryanair, which suffered another bad session and is now over 10 per cent weaker than at the start of the trading year - just last Wednesday. The airline is under assault on three fronts, with sterling's weakness and falling British consumer sentiment being compounded by the rally of oil prices to record levels. It closed 4.3 per cent weaker on the session yesterday at €4.14.

On the flip side, the trading statement from building suppliers and DIY group Grafton - and the subsequent conference call - was well received. Analysts said the share price ahead of the statement reflected an even more grim outlook than the company presented. Traders said there were a few buyers as the day progressed and the shares finished on €5.50, up 4.5 per cent.

Fruit importer Fyffes, which also published a trading statement yesterday, was much in demand but the stock closed the day unchanged on €1.01.