Another dismal day for the Irish market, with only the rise by Bank of Ireland after its share buy-back restricting the fall in the ISEQ to just 12 points. Eircom remained a tale of woe and the financial sector continued to weaken on the back of expected lower margins in their mortgage business and fears among overseas investors about the long-term prospects for the Irish economy.
Given the plunge in the shares in the previous two days, a buy-back by Bank of Ireland was hardly unexpected. But it must be of some concern that although it bought back 47.3 million shares at €8.45 (£6.65), this was not enough to put a floor under the stock. After the buy-back the share closed on €8.15 (£6.42), up 55 cents on the day but 30 cents below the buy-back price.
AIB continued to weaken and dealt down 20 cents to €11.25 (£8.86), First Active was 10 cents lower on €2.80 (£2.21) while Irish Life & Permanent - despite a buy note from Dolmen and buying by chief executive Mr David Went - was 30 cents lower on €9.10 (£7.17).
Eircom's plunge to below the flotation price was the main event affecting punters. There was little sign of any immediate recovery in the shares which were left offered at €3.90 (£3.07) after closing on €3.86 (£3.04).
CRH, which has turned into something of a volatile stock, slumped 85 cents to €19.30 (£15.20). Fyffes drifted 2 cents lower to €1.68 (£1.32) while Independent lost 10 cents to €4.60 (£3.62).
