The Iseq ended down by 0.8 per cent today having given up some of the gains made yesterday as “new year euphoria” evaporated from the markets.
One big reason for the drop was due to CRH which fell by 3.8 per cent today, finishing at €18.75 at the day’s end. The drop was attributed to a trade update issued by the company yesterday morning which, according to one trader, “just wasn’t as sexy” as had been anticipated.
AIB advanced for the second day in a row finishing up by 11.6 per cent at €1.51. Traders were attributing the gains to strong performances in the overall banking sector, particularly in the UK with Barclay’s, RBS and Lloyd’s all performing well.
However, analysts were flummoxed on the whole as to why AIB performed so well, having advanced by 23 per cent in the past few days when the likes of Bank of Ireland made relatively modest gains of 5.2 per cent at €1.53 and Irish Life and Permanent closed 2.7 per cent down at €3.40.
Ryanair, which was the “darling of the markets” a day previous, finished down by 1.9 per cent at €3.46. This comes ahead of the company’s investor update, due on Thursday, which is expected to prompt the next big trading day for the Irish market.
Aer Lingus was one of the day’s big gainers finishing up at €1.51, up 6.7 per cent, something traders attributed to “quite positive” news around the airline sector in Europe.
Britain's leading share index ended 0.4 per cent higher, hitting a fresh 16-month closing high, as banks and commodity stocks rose, but gains were capped by a fall in drug makers on concerns over vaccine sales. The FTSE 100 closed at 5,522.5 points, up 22.16 or 0.40 percent.
European shares closed lower, retreating from a 15-month high, with drug makers falling after France cancelled flu shot orders overshadowing gains in banks on talk that Barclays may lift its outlook.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed down 0.03 per cent at 1,060.42 points in choppy trade, having been as low as 1,055.69 and up as much as 1,063.05. The index surged 1.4 per cent on Monday, its first session of the year, to close at its highest since October 2008, as upbeat US economic data helped the market extend its 26 per cent rally of 2009.
In Frankfurt the DAX index ended at 6,031.86 points, down 16.44 or 0.27 per cent while in Paris the CAC-40 index closed at 4,012.91 points, down 1.06 or 0.03 per cent.