The Irish market finished the week on a low note, shedding 0.8 per cent today despite strong performances from FBD and Independent News & Media.
Insurer FBD continued to feel the benefits of a positive set of interim results released earlier in the week, though it was the announcement of a joint venture to manage its property interest that brokers said underpinned the jump in its share price.
"The joint venture announcement is more important," one trader said. "It tidies up their balance sheet and means it's just a pure insurance company play."
The stock rose more than 7 per cent, or about 45 cent, to just below €6.60.
Elsewhere, first-half results from Dublin-based media group IN&M were in line with expectations and appeared to be well received by investors as its share price rose more than 6 per cent, or 1.7 cent, to 28.2 cent. However the volume of shares traded was quite light.
Insulation group Kingspan was among the biggest losers on the day, shedding about 2.5 per cent, or 15 cent, to €5.80, albeit on thin levels of trading.
Packaging group Smurfit Kappa, which has been volatile of late, moved almost 2 per cent lower, or 10 cent, to €4.95.
Overall the Iseq marked time during the morning session as investors held their fire in advance of US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke's speech at the Jackson Hole economic conference in the afternoon. Markets in general sold off initially after Mr Bernanke stopped short of signalling further action to stimulate economic growth.
However equities rebounded quite strongly after the initial sell-off, and the Iseq enjoyed a bounce into the close. It wasn't enough to erase the earlier damage done though, and the index finished about 20 points lower at 2,429.94.
National benchmark indexes fell in 13 of the 18 western European markets. The UK's FTSE 100 Index lost less than 0.1 per cent, while France's CAC 40 Index slid 1 per cent and Germany's DAX Index lost 0.8 per cent.
Additional reporting - Bloomberg