Markets down across Europe

THE Irish market mirrored its main European counterparts by losing ground yesterday.

Bourses across Europe were off by as much as 3.5% as investors sought to realise gains made during last week’s rally. The ISEQ index fell 89.46 points to 2,880.69.

The financial sector was hardest hit. The Irish banks occupied the top three positions in the index’s lagging movers list. Bank of Ireland shed 38.7c to €1.84, while AIB lost 30.5c to €2.04. Irish Life and Permanent followed this trend shipping 55c to €3.40.