The Irish stock market continued to trade down this afternoon, mirroring the fall in share prices in global markets as worries over the economic recovery.
After a steady downward slide, the Iseq was down 75 points to 2,875 just after 3pm, with financials trading down after a tough morning.
AIB was down 5.8 per cent to €2.10, after losing as much as 8.5 per cent throughout the day. Bank of Ireland, meanwhile, regained some of its earlier losses to €2.04, but was still down 4.3 per cent on Friday's closing price. Irish Life & Permanent, meanwhile, fell 4.7 per cent to €3.76.
Aer Lingus was down 3.8 per cent to 50 cent a share, while rival Ryanair saw its share price fall 0.8 per cent to €3.09. The no-frills airline announced today it would move nine of its 10 routes at Manchester Airport to other airports in the region, citing charges as the reason for the move.
At the other end of the market, Glanbia was trading slightly up at €2.48, while DCC showed a gain of just over 1 cent to €15.40.
In other markets, US stocks opened sharply lower, on par with a drop in global equities, as investors worried recent market gains may have outpaced the economic recovery.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 172.31 points, or 1.85 percent, to 9,143.95. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 22.17 points, or 2.21 per cent, to 981.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 45.07 points, or 2.27 per cent, to 1,940.45.
European equities hit a two-week trough today, led lower by banks and commodity shares, as a sell-off in Asia and the US following Friday's poor consumer confidence data in the United States triggered profit-taking.
The figures showing a further deterioration in US consumer confidence overshadowed a report today that Japan
became the third G7 country after Germany and France to pull out of recession.
By 1112 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 2.3 per cent at 919.07 points after falling to
918.06, the lowest since July 30th. It is on track to post its biggest one-day percentage drop since early last month.
But the benchmark index, which slumped 45 per cent in 2008, is still up 10 per cent this year and has jumped 42 per cent
since hitting a lifetime low in early March.
"Signs of anaemia in the economic recovery are catalysing some profit taking, but I don't think it is a matter of concern. You can't just expect every single boat in the sea to be lifted off by this rising tide," said Andrew Bell, head of research at Rensburg Sheppards.
"We either needed to see a pause for breath because we are not in an economic boom or perhaps we need to see a
rotation from the companies most exposed to the recovery story."
Financials were among top losers in Europe, with Standard Chartered, HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, Royal Bank of
Scotland, BNP Paribas, Societe Generale down 1.5 to 4.2 per cent.
Sweden's Swedbank fell 5.3 per cent after it unveiled a surprise 15 billion Swedish crown ($2.1 billion) rights issue to boost a balance sheet weighed down by rising levels of bad loans.
"What we have seen is pure profit taking. The falls of over 3 per cent in Asian markets and Friday's consumer
confidence figures have made the hairs stand on the back of investors' necks," said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.
"The risky asset classes are the main sufferers today as investors flee from risky plays which have driven equity
markets of late. All heavyweight sectors are down with miners and banks particularly weak," he added.
A sharp decline in crude oil and metals prices on concerns about the pace of global economic recovery also put
pressure on energy and mining shares.
Miners BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto , Xstrata and Eurasian Natural Resources fell 2.7 to 6.1 per cent.
Oil majors BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, Tullow Oil, Repsol, Total and StatoilHydro shed between 0.9 and 3.7 per cent.
Analysts said that the market would continue to remain choppy and investors would stay cautious as recent economic data provided mixed signals about the prospects of economic recovery.
"The stock market is likely to be very disappointed about the demand side of the equation within the next 6-12 months," Saxo Bank Chief Economist David Karsboel writes in a note.
"We do not expect a violent unwinding a la October-November in the near term, but we do expect that volatility will increase as the discrepancy between expectations and actual data widens."
The VDAX-NEW volatility index jumped 12.5 per cent, hitting its highest level in five weeks. The higher the index, which is based on sell- and buy-options on Frankfurt's top-30 stocks, the lower is investors' appetite for risky assets such as equities.
Volkswagen ordinary shares fell 6.6 per cent, with traders pointing towards speculation that Porsche may own more
options in the automaker than the block controlling a 17 per cent VW stake that it agreed to sell to Qatar Holding LLC on Friday.
Porsche was up 7 per cent.
Across Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 were down 2.1 to 2.6 per cent.
Reuters