CRH stymies market advance

MARKETS across the world stumbled yesterday as lingering fears about the strength of the global recovery continued to weigh heavily. Investors worldwide sought to move to less risky assets such as government debt.

At home, the ISEQ plunged 160.75 points to finish at 2,620.12 as market bellwether CRH announced a profit warning.

The financials were mixed as Bank of Ireland and AIB followed the downward trend. The former dipped 3.1c to 74.7c, while the latter shipped 2.7c to 79.8c. Irish Life and Permanent did manage a slight gain of 1.3 to €1.52.