Market slumps to below 5,000 mark

THE ISEQ index yesterday fell below 5,000 points for the first time since January 2004.

The drop is particularly astonishing since in the interim the index peaked at over 10,000 points in February 2007. The Irish market closed down 185.06 points at 4,890.30.

The main focus of yesterday’s trading was CRH as the share price plummeted €2.19 to €15.12 as the company announced that first-half pretax profits would be down €70m to €600m or almost 10% as a result of the global economic squeeze. Grafton Group and Kingspan were dragged down 36c and 21.5c to €3.18 and €5.76.