The ISEQ fell this morning as European bourses succumbed to negative sentiment following a warning from Cisco, weak results from Philips and potential job cuts at Ericsson. At midday the Dublin-based index was off 40 points on 5,624.9.
Leading the fall were the finacials with Allied Irish Bank off 28 cents on euro 11.70, Bank of Ireland down 17 cents on euro 9.92 and Anglo Irish Bank dropping four cents to euro 3.56.
Eircom shares were not helped by weakening Vodafone shares in London following a downgrade of the stock by Deutsche Bank. At midday Eircom shares had fallen to euro 2.47, a fall of six cents.
As expected, tech stocks fared badly this morning with Horizon down 15 cents to euro 3.80. Independent shares were off three cents on euro 2.45 while ITG down 30 cents on euro 5.95.
The food sector remains under pressure as the foot and mouth crisis continues to bite. Glanbia dropped over 5 per cent to euro 0.55, Golden Vale eased down one cent to euro 0.79 while Kerry shed 20 cents to euro 12.50.
Galen surged 72 cents to euro 14.24, Jurys dropped 10 cents to euro 9.10 while Ryanair dropped 12 cents to euro 10.38.