ISEQ down at close

The ISEQ index of Irish shares closed down 69.76 points at 1,949 today.

Index majors on the fallers' board included CRH, down 94c to 14.06; Elan Corp, off 41c to 3.89; Greencore, sliding 10c to 0.70, and Ryanair, down 6c to 2.87.

Smurfit Kappa, which today announced the seizure of 1,500 hectares of forestry land in Venezuala by that country's government, fell 12c to 1.18.

Financials were however in the black, with AIB cheering 7c to 0.34 and Bank of Ireland up 6c to 0.18.

Also rising was Paddy Power, up 14c to 12.29.