Share prices in Dublin continued to weaken as international markets generally mark time ahead of the results season.

Trading was thin with investors still looking for direction. Some took the opportunity to take profits on the banks.

The financial stocks, together with Eircom and Elan, all dragged the ISEQ index lower.

The banks continued to stumble and AIB was unable to stay above €13. The shares slipped 20 cents to end the day at €12.90 with analysts remaining bearish on the stock ahead of fourth-quarter results from its US operations.

Bank of Ireland was also forced below €10 and shed 26 cents to close at €9.77. Irish Life & Permanent also took a hit, with the shares moving back 30 cents to €12.25 and First Active lost two cents to end at €2.21. Anglo Irish Bank managed to make some progress, putting on two cents to finish at €3.15.

Eircom was 11 cents weaker at €2.40 and was again affected by weakness at Vodafone. Elan was also lower, down 40 cents at €47.

CRH suffered a setback, largely due to profit warnings in the sector. The stock closed 16 cents down at €19.90. Smurfit was unchanged at €2.20. Heiton Holdings brought in good interim results yesterday. Its shares closed one cent stronger at €3.28 following the announcement. And Jurys Doyle Hotels managed to make further progress ahead of its results today. The shares climbed 15 cents to €9.15.

Other stocks which turned weaker were ITG, which closed 30 cents lower at €6.80, Rapid Technology which also lost 30 cents to end at 75 cents and Riverdeep, which dropped 35 cents to €3.10.