ISEQ down more than 1.5%

The ISEQ index of Irish shares lost ground but avoided a feared meltdown today, falling 39.03 points to finish on 2.506.48.

It was another bad day for the banks. Allied Irish Banks sank 3c to 6c and Bank of Ireland slipped 1c to 9c. Irish Life and Permanent was unchanged at 3c.

There was gloom across a number of sectors. Tullow Oil was the heaviest faller, plunging 1.52 to 11.74, with Paddy Power not far behind on 1.12.

There were heavy losses also for Kerry Group (down 53c to 25.79), Dragon Oil (down 40c to 5.45), Elan (down 31c to 6.80) and Glanbia (down 18c to 4.07).

It was not all bad news however. DCC was up 28c to 17.60, and Ryanair crept up 5c to 3.10.