Europe bourses in negative territory

SHARES in general were in the red across Europe. Ireland following the trend, shed 15.28 points to 5400.03 as the financials again weighed on the index.

Bank of Ireland and AIB traded lower at €10.41 and €12.22 respectively. The latter fell 8c amid speculation that its associate company M&T is a contender to buy US bank Riggs. Anglo-Irish and Irish Life & Permanent continued the negative trend in the sector.

CRH was a positive force on the market, firming 11c to €18.07. Housebuilder Abbey slipped 8c to €8.60 after reporting steady earnings for the year. Elan was back in form up 5c to €20.62 while Ryanair rose 7c to €4.79. Greencore fell for a third day after the EU said it plans to slash price guarantees for the EU’s sugar producers.