Market down again on profit-taking

THE Irish market lost ground yesterday for a second consecutive day yesterday as investors sought to take profit. The ECB also announced that they were reducing their base rate to an historic low of 1%. The ISEQ index fell 91.74 points to 2,590.26.

It was a mixed day for the financials as investors and analysts alike awaited stress testing results from many of the major US banks last night. Morning trading saw all three major Irish banks make significant gains. Bank of Ireland and Irish Life and Permanent gave back some ground in the afternoon but still managed to add 15c and 16c to finish at €1.34 and €2.45. AIB closed down 3c at €1.17.

A bad day in the construction stocks was signified by a €1.33 loss for CRH to €17.07, while Grafton Group and Kingspan slipped 11c and 0.15c to €2.80 and €4.30.