In common with other markets, the Irish stock exchange is continuing to suffer the knock-on effects of Tuesday's 300-point slide on New York's Dow Jones. A 0.21 per cent drop yesterday was broadly in line with its European counterparts.
But there were fears that the ISEQ could be further weakened as US investors awaited the outcome of Monica Lewinsky's testimony before a Grand Jury in Washington as well as the latest US jobless figures which are due to be published today. Also under scrutiny is today's keynote speech to parliament by the new Japanese prime minister in which he will outline his economic and taxation policy. His comments will directly affect international investor confidence in the region. Closer to home, the decision of the Bank of England monetary policy committee to leave interest rates unchanged ended market speculation. But research from the Confederation of British Industry, showing retail sales growth had slowed to its lowest level in three years, and signs of a recession in manufacturing could effect Irish stocks with a high British exposure.
On the ISEQ, there was a noticeable stabilising of prices among the major stocks with CRH rising by 37p, or 4.3 per cent, to 894p after a bout of selling in recent days. One dealer said that the stock had been oversold, falling by 17 per cent in July while the British building materials sector had fallen by 12 per cent. A 27 per cent rise in interim operating profits to £10.7 million at Golden Vale also appeared to catch shareholders on the hop after Wednesday's profit-taking. The stock rebounded 2p yesterday after a 4p fall on Wednesday, closing at 108p. Other food groups saw mixed dealings: Fyffes was 3p up at 143p, Kerry was down 20p at 880p, and Avonmore Waterford dropped 5p to 305p. IAWS was unchanged at 265p. AIB continued its trend-buckling ascent, building on Wednesday's 10p gain with a 13.5p rise yesterday to 1113.5p as news of its buoyant half-year profits sank in. Irish Life was relatively buoyant on the day, closing up 2p to 632p, while Anglo Irish was up 2.47p at 192p.
Bank of Ireland slipped 8p to close at 1377p, reflecting a certain transfer of allegiance to AIB stock, and Hibernian eased back 10p to 680p. Irish Permanent held its own at 890p. Largely as a result of AIB's gains, the financial index was up by 0.4 per cent on the day.
Much of the decline in the ISEQ's non-financial stock could be attributed to the pharmaceutical company, Elan, whose price dropped $2 on the Nasdaq to $67 3/4, a drop of 2.87 per cent. The other industrials had a mixed day with Smurfit up 2p to 165p, IWP up 10p to 350p, and Greencore was up 3p to 350p "in reasonable volumes". One dealer said its Paramount acquisition on Wednesday had been overshadowed by the AIB profit announcement.
Clondalkin was down 10p to 580p, Marlborough slipped 25p to 290p and Jurys was back 10.5p to 570p.
Irish bonds continued to gain, aided by the weak stock market picture.
