The Irish market fell to a four-week low yesterday as weak overseas markets and a lack of local stock-specific news kept investors at bay.

The daily decline was marginal, but the general sentiment was negative and left the index almost 3 per cent below where it started the new year. Activity was muted in most stocks, with dealers reporting little activity across the board except for in Blackrock and Independent News & Media.

Property group Blackrock, which has been the focus of attention recently amid rumours that a property developer is seeking to build a stake in the group, was up 3.5 per cent on 3.2 million trades. In value terms, however, this only equates to a two cent rise, to 59 cent.

Independent News & Media was also busy with three million shares changing hands. It was also up two cent, ending at €2.96.

Aer Lingus was one of the few decent gainers as dealers reported good two-way interest in the stock. Still, only 770,000 units changed hands. The shares ended the day up six cent, or 2.1 per cent, at €2.94, a move that was likely to be a result of the declining oil price. It was also the company's first day of charging for checked-in baggage.

Ryanair meanwhile was a loser, dropping 22 cent, or 2 per cent to €10.97 on almost two million trades.

Dealers said the stock should actually have gained in value as oil price fell, but a downgrade by Dutch brokerage ABN Amro was likely to have had an impact on overall sentiment.

Elsewhere, the financials put in a mixed performance, with Bank of Ireland and AIB falling marginally to end at €17.13 and €22.05 respectively.

However, Anglo Irish Bank gained 20 cent, or 1.3 per cent, to close at €15.98.