With little news flow and volumes light across the board, it was generally a dull and lifeless day on the Dublin market.
After a bright start, the Iseq index of Irish shares slipped into the red in early afternoon trading as Anglo Irish Bank, Paddy Power and Smurfit Kappa came under pressure. It eventually closed the day 1.35 per cent weaker as it dropped back 61.96 points to 4,544.67.
Among the banks, Anglo Irish Bank was the worst performer with its share price falling 5.56 per cent to €6 after Swiss bank UBS downgraded it to sell from neutral, saying that earnings risk remains on the downside as the commercial property market slows. However, brokers said there was also an element of profit taking after the strong rebound in its share price over the past week.
Other financial stocks also closed the day in negative territory but again volumes were light in lacklustre trading. Bank of Ireland was more than 3 per cent weaker as 19.5 cents was shaved off its share price to €5.875, while Irish Life & Permanent dropped 10 cents to €5.95 despite Fitch ratings affirming the bank's individual and support ratings at "B" and "3" respectively, reflecting what is said was IL&P's "moderate liquidity, good profitability, low risks and satisfactory capital".
Paddy Power's share price was under pressure throughout the day following a Davy report said that the bookmaker had initiated a price war across its Irish divisions, with the broker cutting its earnings forecast by 10 per cent. It eventually ended the day more than 3.6 per cent weaker as it shed 61 cents to €16.19.
A rise in oil prices helped to push Ryanair down by 7 cents to €2.78, while C&C continued to find itself under pressure and was nearly 3 per cent weaker as it slipped back by 8 cents to €2.63. Smurfit Kappa was nearly 8 per cent weaker at €3.872.
European stocks fell for the first time in three days after the biggest decline in U.K. house prices since at least 2002 dragged down banks and consumer companies, overshadowing gains in commodity producers.
National benchmark indices fell in 11 of the 18 western European markets. France's CAC 40 and the UK's FTSE 100 dropped 0.1 per cent, while Germany's DAX lost 0.2 per cent.