It may not have been as dramatic as the St Patrick’s Day bloodbath but traders described today’s trading on the Irish Stock Exchange as “horrendous” and stocks which minimised their losses were seen as out performers.
The ISEQ index closed at 6,151.67 down 173.39 points.
Bank of Ireland set the tone for the day with a set of solid preliminary results for last year which saw profit before tax grow 6 per cent to €1.8 billion. The market was more interested in what lies ahead for the bank and in the absence of firm guidance from management the share price took a hammering – closing down 5.7 per cent to €8.06.
With oil prices passing $132 for the first time banking stocks across Europe suffered as their was a big switch into commodities. That saw all the Irish financial stocks suffer – Anglo Irish Bank was down almost 6 per cent to €8.83, while Irish Life and Permanent shed 4.8 per cent to end the session at €10.85.
The oil price hike was a product of concerns over inventory, supply and the weak dollar. The relatively heavy weighting towards mining and exploration stocks enabled the FTSE 100 to edge into positive territory finishing up 6.5 points to 6198.1.
It was a different story on the European bourses – Germany's DAX closed at 7040.8, down 77.67 and France's Cac 40 was down 27.33 to 5027.6.
The record oil price also drove down stocks on Wall Street, as the market got jitters over its effect on business costs, consumer spending and inflation.