Ministers’ words weigh on markets

Shares in Dublin continued to trade further into negative territory after comments by Dutch, Finnish, and German finance ministers cast doubt on whether ESM funding could be used to recapitalise banks.

The Iseq index closed the session down 42.07 to 3,268.73.

Financial stocks were weaker as a result with all three listed banks in decline. AIB dipped by 0.3c to 5.6c, Bank of Ireland gave up 0.7c to 9.3c, while Permanent TSB was slightly lower, down 0.3c to 2.62c. Insurer FBD Holdings dropped 5c to €9.85.

In construction, sector heavyweight CRH continued to slide further into the red, losing 8c to €15.115. Grafton and Kingspan also followed suit with the former giving up 3.5c to €3.32 and the latter shedding 9.5c to €7.855.

Elsewhere, exploration company Ovoca Gold fell 3c (about 17%) to 14c, while pharmaceutical company Elan closed at €8.47, down 16.5c on the day.