Predictable fall for banking stocks

FOLLOWING a week of marginal gains, the ISEQ mirrored the harsh weather conditions and froze yesterday, with the banking stocks, predictably, taking a tumble in the wake of the Government inflating its stake in AIB.

The bank’s fall on the back of nationalisation speculation earlier in the week went into overdrive yesterday, with AIB down a further 21% as the Government announced a further bailout injection of €3.7bn and an ownership of almost 93% once the sale of the bank’s Polish operations is concluded.

By the close of business, AIB’s stock had rallied ever so marginally, but was still down by 19.8%, or 8c, to 32c.