Weakness in the US dollar and a bad day for the financials and Elan meant Dublin's stock exchange stood at 5,973.86 by the end of the day, down 67.32 points.

Construction company Kingspan has announced the appointment of Gene Murtagh Jr as chief executive officer for the group from January 1 next.

Pre-tax profits of €23.8m have been announced by building materials group Kingspan for the first-six months of 2003.