Sluggish financials see market drop

THE ISEQ index closed in negative territory on the back of the financial stocks. The Dublin Stock exchange dropped 32.88 points to 7889.3.

The financial sector gave up 72.61. AIB dropped 5c to €18.90. Bank of Ireland was 9c lower at €14.58. Irish Life and Permanent and Anglo Irish were €20.20 and €12.94.

CRH fell 15c to €29.20. Kingspan Group eased 5c to €13.10. Grafton Group was 3c stronger at €11.08. McInerney Holdings rose 10c in share price to €12.90.

Ryanair drifted to €6.63 despite news of the online check-in facility on the Dublin to Cork route.

Elan added 10c to €11.65 as Biogen Idec released its first quarter 2006 results. C&C firmed up 10c to €6.35.