The renewed jitters in Asia combined with a wobbly start on Wall Street combined to end the Irish stock market's post-budget bull run yesterday. Bearish sentiment prevailed in the Asia-Pacific region as most stock markets closed lower, led by a 4.1 per cent decline in Hong Kong stocks and a drop of 1.25 per cent in Japanese shares.
Dealers said factors affecting confidence included a 61-point drop on Wall Street on Tuesday as technology stocks were hit after the Oracle Group said a slowdown in Asian sales had hurt its earnings.
A plunge in the price of gold to an 18-year low on Tuesday and the sharp decline in the value of the South Korean won also depressed investor confidence amid fears that a steep fall in the won could have a contagion effect.
The Dublin market, which gained more than five per cent last week, was particularly susceptible to profit-taking, with the leading stocks most affected, dealers said. The ISEQ index of Irish shares slipped 35.65 points or 0.88 per cent to close at 4,028.05.
The two main banks lost one to two per cent with Bank of Ireland sliding 10p to 1040 while AIB shed 15p to 680p.
But dealers reported investor interest to take advantage of the market's weakness and buy into secondline stocks with exposure to the Irish economy.
