Banks in negative territory

Shares in Dublin declined yesterday with the ISEQ index closing 55.32 points weaker to 4423.40.

AIB lost 13c to 13.17 with Bank of Ireland following suit, slipping 13c to 11.80. Irish Life and Permanent was also in negative territory with a 7c drop to 13.63. Positive were First Active, 6c higher at 4.88, and IFG, 5c firmer at 1.25. The ISEQ Financial index closed at 8886.50, down 69.08 points.

Despite some of the small cap firms reporting good interim earnings, the early gain in share prices was short lived. Arnotts fell 10c to 10.60 after solid results while Grafton Group finished 7c weaker at 4.25.