ISEQ slips slightly

The ISEQ index of Irish shares was down 80.58 points to 9584.67 today, despite the announcement that Brent crude oil prices are expected to fall sharply.

Crude stocks rose by 6.9mio bbls (versus expected 100k) and gasoline stocks rose by 1.8mio bbls (versus expected 1mio). The fall saw Brent crude dip to $70.50 before recovering to the $70.80 level where we begin todays session. The key concern over the data was refinery capacity which fell to 87.6%, some 9% below typical levels for this time of year: this inevitably muted the bearish run.

It remains to be seen whether the retracement will continue over the next few days, or whether this correction will herald a period of consolidation before bullish factors once again take centre stage to prompt a test of the key $72.75 area.

The financial houses all suffered this morning. AIB fell €0.19 to €21.58 while Anglo dipped €0.28 to €15.65.

IL&P was down €0.19 to €19.08 and Bank of Ireland dropped €0.18 to €15.75.