Equity markets rounded off the week with across the board losses today, as investors rushed into safe-haven assets in response to growing concerns about the strength of the global economic recovery.
Stocks fell to a one-month low and oil prices hit a six-week low as fears mounted that the recovery had stalled.
The Iseq index of Irish shares fell almost 1.7 per cent as key stocks such as CRH, Ryanair, Elan and Kerry all saw their share prices fall back on a day of thin trading volumes.
It was a day with little stock-related news to push individual stocks up or down, with the exception of the release of data on the UK's off-trade beverage sector.
The data showed that sales of cider were down in August as British drinkers suffered a World Cup hangover, however C&C's Magners brand outperformed the market. The stock finished more or less flat at €3.10 on the Iseq.
The financial stocks all closed in the red, with Irish Life & Permanent the biggest faller of the three, finishing down 5.5 per cent at €1.46 on low volume. Dealers noted there was little buyer interest in the stock.
Cement-maker CRH continued to suffer on equity markets, with the stock closing down 3.2 per cent at €13.89.
The stock, which is the largest on the index, is under pressure as a result of a fall-off in the value of US federal highway contract awards, a market on which it is dependent, as well as the reporting of lacklustre earnings from its peer in the building materials sector, Holcim.
Meanwhile, paper and packaging group Smurfit Kappa had "a rollercoaster day", according to one Dublin-based dealer, with the stock eventually closing down 3.3 per cent at €7.19.
Grafton and Kingspan, two stocks exposed to the UK housing sector, were two of the key fallers on the day, as negative sentiment about that market circulated European trading desks.
