Markets continue to suffer as US jitters hit trading

EQUITY markets finished the week in negative territory again as fears for the health of corporate America hit trading across the world.

After a short-lived rally on Thursday, the main European indices gave up any gains and sank towards six-year lows. The main US markets have ended the week lower for 16 of the past 18 weeks and with another batch of company earnings out next week, few analysts are predicting any major increase.

In Dublin, the Stock Exchange sank a further 1.5% with losses in financial and industrial shares. The ISEQ is off 15% in the past six months, mainly due to the collapse of Elan’s share price.