Financials weigh down market

The ISEQ index closed in negative territory on the back of the financial and construction stocks yesterday.

The Dublin exchange closed down 60.59 points at 7,390.13.

AIB dropped 34c to €18.40. Bank of Ireland was 31c lower at €13.63. Anglo Irish Bank was 10c weaker at €11.45 despite launching a new savings account yesterday. Irish Life and Permanent bucked the trend following positive sales trends released for the Irish Life & Pensions market. It finished up 10c at €17.65.

Construction giant CRH fell 30c to €25.15. Grafton Group lost 16c at €9.94. Kingspan Group eased back 12c to €13.08.

Other main movers included Elan who jumped 39c to €10.94. Dragon Oil added 2c to €2.25 despite announcing its average daily oil output declined because of a pipeline blockage. IAWS Group shed 18c to €13.92.