Share prices on both sides of Atlantic in decline

By Conor Keane THE September 11 increases on European stock exchanges appears to have been something of a “dead cat bounce” as stocks on both sides of the Atlantic fell.

The ISEQ Index of Irish shares fell 1.9%, wiping 1.13 billion, while billions were wiped off shares in London, where the FTSE 100 share index fell by 3%. The decision of the European Central Bank to hold interests rates, US President George Bush's demand that the UN forces Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to get rid of his weapons of mass destruction, and Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's declaration that a US economic recovery faced very significant challenges, held shares back on both sides of the Atlantic.

"To date, the economy appears to have withstood this set of blows well, although the depressing effects still linger and continue to influence, in particular, the federal budget outlook," Mr Greenspan said in testimony prepared for delivery before the House of Representatives Budget Committee.