DUBLIN REPORT:A SELL-OFF in banking stocks saw the Iseq index of Irish share plunge by 2.58 per cent, down 134 points to 5,075 making it another dismal day for the Dublin market.
At one stage the market had dipped below the psychologically important 5,000 before staging a minor recovery from early morning lows.
A hangover from Monday's negative outlook from rating agency SP alongside weak economic data, combined with continuing concerns about further writedowns in the international banking sector led to financial stocks in Dublin taking a hammering.
Although they came off their lows in morning trading, banks closed firmly in the red. Irish Life Permanent was again the hardest hit, trading down 15 per cent at one stage before eventually closing 5.8 per cent weaker at €6.225. AIB dropped 3 per cent to €9.50, while Bank of Ireland saw 2.23 per cent knocked off its share price to €5.40. Anglo Irish Bank shed 13 cent, a fall of more than 2 per cent, to €5.82.
Construction heavyweight CRH was under pressure throughout the day, with investors nervous ahead of its interim trading statement today, particularly after Credit Suisse cut its price target on the stock and advised investors to avoid European building materials stocks for the next 12 months. The company saw 7.4 per cent knocked off the value of its share price as it shed €1.39 to €17.31.
FBD was among the casualties, plummeting more than 6 per cent to €15.90 with ongoing concerns about the performance of its non-underwriting business in Ireland and Spain weighing on the stock.
Independent News Media was 3 per cent weaker, losing five cent to €1.51.
Dragon Oil surged more than 5 per cent as it added on 29 cent to €6, while Elan advanced 25 cent to €22.35.
Iseq:5,075.36 (-134.21). Settlement Date:July 4th
