Market flat ahead of the budget

It was a nervous day on the Irish market with trading relatively flat ahead of today’s budget which is expected to be the toughest in recent years.

Global markets were also sluggish as attention turned to US fiscal concerns. The ISEQ Index drifted 4.73 points to 3,283.85.

Financial stocks were mixed once again with AIB and Permanent TSB unchanged at 5.4c and 2.1c. Bank of Ireland was higher at 11.5c, up 0.5c. Meanwhile, insurer FBD Holdings declined by 25c to €10.40.

In construction, CRH gained 5c to €14.06, Kingspan nudged up by 0.6c to €7.95 while Grafton Group bucked the trend with a decline of 11.7c to €3.63 as figures released show UK construction down 8.4% on the same period in 2011.

Elsewhere, drinks company C&C Group gave up 6.1c to €4.00, exploration company Tullow Oil shed 94.6c or 5.6% to €15.95, while IFG Group lost 4c to €1.36.