Market falls, but banks fight back

THE Irish market was down yesterday, but not by as much as its European peers. Bank stocks made ground on the day as speculation mounted about a possible recapitalisation of one or some of the Irish banks.

The ISEQ index shed 33.97 points to finish the session at 2,416.22.

The banks in general had a positive day with Irish Life and Permanent being the only exception. Bank of Ireland regained 11.9c of its recent losses to close at €1.05. AIB and Anglo-Irish tacked on 6c and 8.8c to €2.24 and 92c respectively. Irish Life and Permanent slipped 6.5c to €1.435. A bad day for the construction sector saw Grafton Group ship 4c to €2.28 as an interim statement announced that difficult trading conditions and sterling weakness would lead to a 14.5% fall in turnover.