Little movement on ISEQ

WITH little or no trading on the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday the 17.37 points fall to 4002.02 was not reflective of the true state of the market.

The main shares on the exchange, AIB, Bank of Ireland and CRH, were pretty much unchanged with the latter down only 5 cents by the close of business.

However, European blue chips sank to two-and-a-half month lows in exceptionally thin volumes, with equity-heavy insurers like Allianz at the forefront.

Losses were broad-based as the euro hovered around three-year highs against the dollar, whacking some exporters, and as Brent crude oil prices held near 15-month highs, threatening to derail global economic recovery.

The benchmark FTSE Eurotop 300 index is on course to close the year 33% weaker.

In New York, modest opening losses accelerated, with the Dow Jones industrial average dipping 0.49% while the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite fell 0.35%.