Irish shares closed more than 2 per cent lower as the market again failed to join in a buoyant international performance, which saw the FTSE close more than 100 points higher while Wall Street powered ahead in the wake of benign data.
However, persistent weakness in leading industrial shares continued to take its toll on the ISEQ index of Irish shares. Although Elan stabilised in the US, its sharp fall of recent days hit the index as it registered in Dublin.
CRH also had a poor day, losing 73 cents to close at €17.50 (£13.78) following a profit warning from British building materials group Blue Circle.
"CRH was a casualty of that although the Blue Circle warning was very much isolated to its Asian operations," one dealer said. CRH has little exposure in the Far East but suffered along with the rest of the sector, nonetheless.
Overall, the general index lost more than 100 points or 2.78 per cent as stocks either stagnated or fell. Among those going nowhere was Eircom, which closed down one cent at €3.91 (£3.08).
By contrast, financial shares did not perform as badly, losing just 0.8 per cent of their value. Dealers said there was on-going interest and good volumes in the leading financial stocks ahead of Bank of Ireland's interim results on November 11th.
AIB closed five cents lower at €11.85 (£9.33), having briefly touched €12 earlier in the day. Bank of Ireland was down 15 cents at €7.45 (£5.87) while Anglo Irish Bank added two cents to €2.22 (£1.75). Irish Life & Permanent also gained some ground, closing 10 cents higher at €9.40 (£7.40).
