The Iseq index flatlined for much of today’s session despite a strong performance from its largest constituent CRH.
The building materials stock outpaced all of its peers today, climbing more than 1 per cent, or 19 cent, to €14.49. This jump came after Davy stockbrokers upgraded its 2011 earnings per share forecast for CRH by 7 per cent.
AIB also finished in positive territory, gaining more than 5 per cent, or 1.4 cent, to close just below 29 cent, but brokers said there was no real news behind this gain. At the opposite end of the spectrum was Bank of Ireland, which today confirmed the completion of the sale of its asset management division Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) to State Street. It also announced it is considering a junior debt-for-equity swap and this news weighed on the stock, which tumbled more than 5 per cent, or 1.7 cent, to 31.5 cent.
In the airline sector, Ryanair fell 2 per cent, or eight cent, to €3.90, wiping out gains made on Friday on the back of positive traffic figures from Easyjet. Brokers attributed today's dip to profit-taking. Rival airline Aer Lingus failed to gain traction even though its latest traffic statistics showed an improvement in its load factor in December. The stock closed pretty much unchanged at just under €1.05 on insignificant volume.
Outside of that, agri-services business Origin Enterprises traded on decent volume as food stocks came into focus because of merger and acquisition activity taking place in the sector. It finished up more than 6 per cent, or two cent, at €3.50.
Although the Iseq finished just 6.45 points down 2,864.39, European stocks in general retreated the most this year as concern that the region's debt crisis may spread overshadowed a resurgence in merger activity. The UK's FTSE 100 slid 0.5 per cent, France's CAC 40 lost 1.6 per cent and Germany's DAX dropped 1.3 per cent.
Additional reporting - Bloomberg