Financial stocks are down

SHARES in Dublin fell 24.23 points yesterday to close at 4312.46.

Financial stocks were poor with Anglo Irish Bank losing 18c to 6.40, ahead of the announcement of its interim results.

Bank of Ireland slid 11c to 10.35 while Irish Life and Permanent slipped 5c to 11.20.

Allied Irish Bank and First Active both eased 3c to finish at 14.05 and 5.17 respectively. Overall the ISEQ financial index dropped 62.41 points to 8498.97.

It was a mixed day for the pharmaceutical stocks. United Drug lost 7c to 12.35 despite reporting full year results in line with market expectations.

Galen Holdings advanced 27c to 8.02 while Elan fell 3c to 2.45. Meanwhile, Ryanair tumbled 30c to 7.90 after rival company Easyjet released results which disappointed some analysts.

In the construction sector CRH climbed 13c to 13.70, McInerney added 5c to 2.10 and Grafton Group lost 5c to 3.70. Positive movers included Alphyra and Irish Continental Group both up 15c to 2.30 and 7.00 respectively and Kerry Group gained 10c to 13.30.

Among the stocks that finished the day lower were DCC, down 12c to 10.28, Qualceram fell 10c to 1.00 and Jurys Doyle Group also slipped 10c to 7.00.