Banks among the losers during quiet holiday trade

THE ISEQ share index ended 1% lower at 4,186.8 points yesterday in scant trade due to a national holiday.

Declining issues shaded risers ten to nine, with two stocks unchanged in volume of just under seven million shares traded.

Leading industrials were mixed, with building materials group CRH down 80 cent to 13.90 and paper and packaging firm Jefferson Smurfit 2 cent higher at 2.90 ahead of this week’s deadline for voting on the Madison Dearborn takeover offer.

The two big banks eased, with Allied Irish down 10 cent to 12.50 and rival Bank of Ireland off 19 cent to 11.52.

No-frills airline Ryanair, which releases first-quarter results today, lifted 20 cent to 6.10. Earlier yesterday the firm reported a 41% surge in passenger numbers in July.

Embattled drugs company Elan, which announced in a recovery plan last week that it was cutting 1,000 jobs and raising $1.5 billion from asset sales, slipped 10 cent to 2.

A newspaper report yesterday said Elan was seeking buyers for hospital drugs Azactam, Maxipime and Abelcet.