Dublin report:Sentiment in the market was nervous yesterday as dealers reported a significant amount of profit taking in some of the second liners and a number of investors simply sitting out the volatility on the sidelines.

"Things are nervous to say the least at the moment," said one trader, adding that he expects the volatility to continue for the rest of the month. On the whole, the Irish market took more of the brunt than its European counterparts, ending the day down almost 71 points.

The financials all put in negative performances in line with their European peers, with AIB leading the way down, dropping 23 cent, to €22.15.

Anglo lost 12 cent to close at €15.61 on decent volumes - as many as 4.4 million shares changed hands - while Bank of Ireland slipped 13 cent, to end the day at €17.12.

Fruit group Fyffes was again in focus, with almost 5 million units changing hands, though the movement yesterday was negative. The stock slipped 1 cent, to close at €1.12 after a series of good gains in the past week.

Total Produce meanwhile fell 3 cent, or 4.1 per cent, to 71 cent on 4.4 million trades.

Homebuilders Abbey and McInerney were two of the few positive movers in the Irish market yesterday, but the gains were unimpressive. Abbey added 14 cent, to close at €11.35, while McInerney was up 10 cent, at €15.30. Both stocks were likely beneficiaries of a positive trading update from UK house builder Taylor Woodrow. NCB estimates that Abbey will earn 67 per cent of its profits from housebuilding in the UK in 2006, while McInerney's figures stand at 23 per cent.

Elsewhere, United Drug put in a decent performance given the general mood, adding 5 cent, or 1.3 per cent, to close at €3.95.