Geopolitical tensions weighed on equities today and the Iseq was not immune, falling 1.6 per cent.
Equities suffered due to fears that global economic growth could be hindered by rising energy prices caused by ongoing political unrest in oil-producing countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa.
Uncertainty over travel in the area, combined with the prospect of higher fuel prices, hit international airline stocks. Ryanair was buffetted by the negative sentiment in the sector, and slipped 12.6 cent to €3.51.
Bank of Ireland, which said on Friday it expects its operating profit for 2010 to be 25-30 per cent lower than the €1.4 billion it achieved the previous year, proved the worst performer on the day. The stock closed almost 9 per cent down, or 3.4 cent, at 35 cent.
Most financial stocks were off, with AIB dropping one cent to 27.2 cent and Irish Life & Permanent sliding 4.5 per cent - just over four cent - to about 86 cent.
Packaging group Smurfit Kappa failed to get a lift from a strong set of results from its peer Mondi. In its morning note, Davy Stockbrokers said the results were positive for Smurfit's profit outlook. Nonetheless, Smurfit dipped two cent to €8.95.
Cement producer CRH made some progress above the €17.00 mark before slipping backwards to close 23 cent down at €16.77.
National benchmark indexes retreated in all but one of the 18 western European markets today. The UK's FTSE 100 Index lost 1.1 per cent, while Germany's DAX Index and France's CAC 40 Index both declined 1.4 per cent.
Additional reporting - Bloomberg