Banks lead ISEQ retreat

THE ISEQ fell back into negative territory yesterday. The Irish exchange closed down 83.21 points to 7566.69.

Market heavyweight AIB was 24c weaker at €18.70. Bank of Ireland was unchanged at €13.95. Irish Life and Permanent was 29c lower at €17.90. Anglo Irish finished in positive territory adding 20c to €11.85.

CRH plunged back 65c to €26.65. Grafton Group finished up 14c at €10.64. Kingspan dipped 2c to €13.25 as SIG one of its important customers for insulation products reported a solid performance in its trading update.

Other main movers included Elan which dropped back 75c to €11.75 after Monday’s gains. Eircom remained the same at €2.18 despite the Irish Competition Authority approving the cash offer proposed by Babcock and Brown. Ryanair declined in share price 27c to €7.53 as the company announced a cut of 21 flights from Sweden to various European destinations.