Shares dip after ECB holds rates

Irish shares traded slightly lower as the ECB announced that it is to leave base interest rates unchanged despite concerns over declining economic growth across the eurozone.

The Iseq Index closed down 9.1 points to 3,302.1.

In the financial sector, AIB remained flat at 5.4c while Bank of Ireland dipped by 0.3c to 10.1c. Permanent TSB Group Holdings were also down 0.3c to 2.8c, with insurer FBD Holdings unchanged at €9.80.

In construction, CRH fell by 15.5c to €14.62, Kingspan shed 13.1c to €7.90, while Grafton Group bucked the trend, adding 5c to €3.48.

Elsewhere, Ryanair published September traffic statistics on Wednesday which showed the airline carried 7.84m passengers in the month, up 8% year on year with load factors down 1% to 84%. Shares in the low-cost carrier were marginally ahead by 0.3c to €4.50.