Market hit by British GDP figures

THE ISEQ index fell a further 36.05 points yesterday to close the week at 3,145.72 points as depressing news from Britain, our biggest trading partner, cancelled out morning gains.

British gross domestic product data showed that the economy contracted sharply in the third quarter instead of starting to expand as forecasters had predicted.

In the financial sector, AIB was unchanged at €2.50, Bank of Ireland dipped 2c to €2.55, Irish Life & Permanent advanced 5c to €5.80, while insurance group FBD Holdings fell back 20c to €7.

In the construction sector, shares in CRH were unchanged at €18.87. European peer, Saint Gobain, has reported third quarter sales of €9.7bn (in line with consensus) on the back of a 12.7% decline in like-for-like sales, an improvement on the 15.9% in the second quarter and 14.9% in Q1. Grafton jumped 13c to €3.55, while Kingspan lost 1c to close at €6.10.