Merrill Lynch's $1.96 billion first-quarter net loss cut early gains made by leading stocks in Dublin today, leaving the Iseq Index of Irish shares just 0.22 per cent ahead at 6,127.84.
Wall Street's jitters also spread to London, where the overall FTSE Index was down around 1 per cent at 5980.4.
In Europe, disappointing results from Nokia also dented confidence, and left the trans-continental FTSEEurofirst index trailing by 0.6 per cent at 1,295.47 at the close of business.