GDP figures blow to market

THE Irish market showed positive signs for the day as the market opened yesterday. However, the curve soon spiked and steadily dropped back as the day progressed and an 8.5% drop in GDP figures for the first quarter were announced by the CSO. The ISEQ index shipped 17.78 points to 2,706.08.

It was a mixed day for the financials as AIB managed to tack on 3.8c to €1.73, while competitor Bank of Ireland slipped by 2.3c to €1.69. Irish Life and Permanent continued its good run by posting a gain of 13.8c to €3.50.

Boundary capital fell by more than 50% to 2.3c at the close as the company announced a €54.4m loss for the full year 2008.