Ravaged equity markets had a brief respite today after a reassuring statement from Nokia and early support from Japan lifted major indices.
The ISEQ still closed 22 points lower at 5,476 in cautious trading.
Financial and industrials remained under pressure but selected technology stocks were backed by an early rally on the Nasdaq. AIB shed 10 cents to euro 11.20, Bank of Ireland gave up 45 cents to close at euro 9.38 and CRH slipped 90 cents to euro 16.80.
Smurfit topped the fallers' board today losing 18 cents or 9 per cent to euro 1.82 after its US subsidiary, Smurfit Stone, issued a profit warning.
Eircom gained 6 cents to euro 2.46 on what was a better day for telecoms stocks. Investors regained some confidence in the sector after leading mobile phone maker Nokia said it would meet first-quarter profit forecasts.
The mini-rally on the Nasdaq lifted Iona, up euro 1.69 to 39.56. Elan gained euro 1.44 to euro 53.75 as Wall Street steadied after a torrid few days.
Bouncing bank and telecoms stocks helped the UK's FTSE 100 index achieve a solid gain today but a positive start on the Wall Street failed to impress US investors.
London was volatile and confidence was low after yesterday's rollercoaster ride which saw the benchmark FTSE 100 slide 250 points at one point. Inevitably, many investors were staying clear of the marketplace until the late afternoon.
US equities rose after solid gains in overseas markets, which helped propel the Dow Jones Industrial Average above the 10,000 mark.
By mid-session, the Dow was up 47.86 to 10,021.32, off earlier triple-digit gains, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index also barely rose above the 2,000 support mark, gaining 32.83, to 2,004.92.