DUBLIN REPORT: Iseq: 3,266.51 (-52.05) Settlement date: October 21stNEWS FROM the United States, pessimism about a rights issue by the Irish banks and the fact that it was a Friday all served to dampen activity in the Dublin market yesterday.

Shareholders in the Irish banks were disappointed with the comments of Mark Cunningham, Bank of Ireland’s director of business banking in Ireland and Britain, who said it was “highly unlikely” the bank would raise capital prior to 2010.

The pessimism spread to all bank shares, traders said.

Appetite for bank shares was further weakened by news from the US, where Bank of America and Citibank figures failed to excite.

Bank of Ireland ended the day at €2.68, down 2.36 per cent on the day. AIB ended the day at €2.67, down 3 per cent.

As for Irish Life & Permanent, it ended the day at €5.63, up 1.44 per cent.

CRH had a healthy morning, but again the news from the US later in the day served to cool matters.

Market confidence data as well as the US banking numbers put investors off and the share ended the day at €19.50, having climbed to €20.37 at one stage. The closing price was down 3.84 per cent.

There were buyers for Tullow Oil because of the ongoing interest in the value of its share in a Ghanaian oil field.

It closed at €13.56, an increase of 1.76 per cent.

Other shares that performed reasonably well included Paddy Power, which ended the day at €22.37, up 2 per cent on the day.

Aer Lingus finished the day at €0.72, down 2.7 per cent.

Glanbia ended the day up 2.14 per cent, at €2.86. Kerry Group closed at €19.65, down 1.75 per cent.

Media group Independent News and Media was down almost 4.5 per cent at €0.235.