Dublin report:The Irish market yesterday lost a chunk of the gains it made in Wednesday's recovery as investors remained nervous of banks.

Dealers described trade as weak and the ISEQ index of Irish shares shed over 170 points to close at 7,794.7, the loss partly due to the banks' heavy weighting in the market.

Anglo Irish bank was one of the day's biggest loosers, dropping 63.3 cent to close at €12.468, a fall of almost 5 per cent. Investors sold off six million shares in Dublin and 13 million in London. The bank lost as much as 9 per cent of its value at one stage during the day.

AIB also suffered, but not as much as its rival. Its shares shed 45 cent to close at €17.30, a fall of over 2.5 per cent, on the back of trades totalling 3.8 million.

Bank of Ireland, the Republic's other big financial institution, emerged relatively unscathed yesterday. Dealers said there were a few buyers of the stock in the market yesterday. Its price dipped by nine cent to €12, with just over 6.2 million shares changing hands in Dublin yesterday.

The jitters spread to the rest of the market and two stocks with exposure to the Republic's building industry also took a hit.

House builder McInerney dropped 13 cent to end the day 6.77 per cent down at €1.79. It was one of the biggest falls of the day in percentage terms.

Dealers said there was a big move against the company, and investors sold around 600,000 shares during the day.

Builders' merchant and DIY group Grafton saw its stock loose 29 cent or 3.43 per cent to close at €8.17.

There was good news for Tullow Oil, the Irish explorer that recently entered London's FTSE 100. The company was one of just three to make any gains yesterady. It added 37 cent or 4.73 per cent to close at €8.20.