Investors remaining cautious

THE ISEQ index closed down 16.09 points yesterday at 2,173.88 as investors remain very cautious over the major financial stocks amid all the bad news surrounding the sector and as markets throughout Europe remained weak on the back of further grim economic news.

The banking stocks had a somewhat steadier day. AIB fell 3c to 63c, Bank of Ireland remained at 37c, Irish Life & Permanent added 1.5c to e1.22, while insurance group FBD Holdings weakened 5c to e7.90.

In the construction sector, CRH weakened 25c to e16.45. Kingspan jumped 8c to e2.10 and Grafton Group pulled back 7c to e1.32.