The Dublin market closed lower today as the IMF’s bleak prognosis for the Irish economy depressed investor sentiment.
CRH, the bellwether of the Iseq index, finished down almost 2.5 per cent after an extremely volatile day’s trading. The cement giant closed at €16.13, after touching a low of €15.87 earlier in the session.
Banks were “on a downer” all day, brokers reported, due partly to a “hangover” from yesterday’s IMF report which predicted that bank losses could reach €35 billion by the end of 2010. Bank of Ireland led the fall, shedding almost 7 per cent - or 13 cent - to just under €1.77, while AIB lost almost 6.5 per cent - 12 cent - to close at €1.74.
Budget airline Ryanair was a little softer, as was the European airline sector in general, and finished down more than 11 cent at €3.25.
Elsewhere, Independent News & Media fell 6 per cent to just below 24 cent after its largest shareholder Denis O’Brien warned yesterday that he would not invest further in the media group under the terms of its proposals to tackles its debts.
Bookmaker Paddy Power crept up by almost 2 per cent to €17.00, while bakery group Aryzta was also a gainer on the day, adding 31 cent to €23.00.
London's FTSE 100 closed at 4,252.57 points, down 27.41 or 0.64 per cent. Frankfurt's DAX index ended at 4,800.56 points, down 35.45 or 0.73 per cent, while in Paris the CAC-40 index closed at 3,163.1 points, down 21.66 or 0.68 per cent.
( Additional reporting: Reuters)
