Airline and banks shares slide as volcanic ash woes see ISEQ tumble
As shares resumed trading after the bank holiday weekend many of the bigger firms found their stock falling more than 5%.
AIB was down 5.6% to €1.35, while Bank of Ireland plunged close to 8% to €1.54. Irish Life and Permanent also suffered, falling 7.5% to €2.81.
As the airports closed due to the return of the volcanic ash, Aer Lingus fell 5.4% to 69 cent and Ryanair dropped almost 3% to €3.61.
The construction sector was also hard hit as CRH, which holds its AGM today, gave up a hefty 1.401c to 20.03.
The ISEQ index fell 120.62 points to 3276.38. European stock markets lost significant ground yesterday as fears about Greece continued.
AIB said that its exposure to Greek debt is “immaterial,”, without giving any detail.
“The domino effect, the contagion risk, is scaring the market,” said Kilian de Kertanguy, a fund manager at Cholet-Dupont Gestion. “The problem is not just Greece, but there are rumours concerning Spain.”
National benchmark indexes fell in all of the western European markets. The IBEX lost 5.4% and Italy’s FTSE MIB Index dropped 4.7%. Britain’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX fell 2.6% France’s CAC 40 sank 3.6%.
Spanish stocks plunged to a nine-month low, lead by the nation’s banks. Santander, Spain’s biggest bank, sank 7.1% to €8.61.
“The nagging problems surrounding Europe are still yet another concern for investors,” said IG’s Hughes. There is “clear concern that the debt problems must surely raise their heads in Spain and Portugal”.
