World markets decline post-Cyprus

Markets on both side of the Atlantic were in negative territory yesterday as macro data and continued fears over the possible precedent set by the recent Cypriot bailout weighed heavily.

US stocks opened lower having made another run at record closes on Tuesday, on news that US pending home sales dipped in February. A prominent member of the US Federal Reserve also indicated that economic conditions could emerge before long which may allow the Fed to slow it quantitative easing programme. Investors in Europe remain wary as banks’ capital positions come into sharper focus post-Cyprus. The ISEQ index lost 10.40 points to 3,913.12.

Banks were off again on the day as AIB and Permanent TSB Group recently announced results. The former reported a financial year 2012 pre-tax loss of €3.8bn with lower but still elevated bad debts. Shares traded 0.3c lower at 6.9c. The latter had a pre-tax loss of €922m, having narrowed from €1.45bn in 2011. The stock price was static at 4c. Bank of Ireland slipped 0.6c to 15c.