Iseq: 4,863.23 ( - 69.33) Settlement date: July 9thAFTER THURSDAY'S rally, which brought a bit of respite for banking stocks, it was a return to more of the same for the financials yesterday as yet again they were the subject to a selling spree.

Weakness in the banks from early on helped to drag the Iseq down, and it eventually closed the day at 4,863.23 as it shed 69.33 points or 1.4 per cent.

Irish banks took their lead from their counterparts in the UK and Europe, where financial stocks declined on the back of a Goldman Sachs report which said that European banks may need to raise as much as €90 billion to keep their financial ratios at current levels amid a decline in credit markets.

AIB was down nearly 4 per cent as it lost 38 cents to €9.20. Anglo was off more than 3.8 per cent at €5.45, while Bank of Ireland saw nearly 5.5 per cent knocked off the value of its share price, dropping back 30 cents to €5.18. Irish Life Permanent was nearly 1.7 per cent weaker at €5.95.

Food stocks did well, led by Glanbia, which in a trading statement said it had a good first-half performance in 2008, and was on target to meet full-year market expectations with double-digit growth. That helped boost its share price, which closed nearly 6 per cent stronger as it picked up 27 cents to €4.92.

Other food stocks followed suit, and by the close of business IAWS was 15 cents ahead at €15.60, Greencore had tacked on 1 cent to €1.86, while Kerry was 49 cents stronger at €18.42.

Construction giant CRH also continued its forward momentum in trading as it surged ahead by more than 6 per cent. It eventually closed 96 cents stronger at €16.62.

Readymix, which said it would post a €10 million loss in the first half of the year, fell back 6 per cent to €0.75, while Ryanair had a day to forget, losing nearly 9 per cent, or 23 cents, to €2.41.