Iseq: 2,419.77 (–34.87) Settlement date: August 24th: THE IRISH market was once again caught up in the global equity sell-off yesterday, shedding more than 1 per cent over the course of a zig-zag session.
The Iseq was sharply lower when the market opened yesterday morning, dipping below 2,400. It recovered in the afternoon as rumours circulated in the market that the US Federal Reserve might hold a meeting over the weekend, and EU Commissioner Ollie Rehn indicated that a euro bond solution might yet be on the cards.
However, German chancellor Angela Merkel’s renewed rejection of this idea sparked a last minute sell-off before markets closed for the week.
The Iseq finished 1.4 per cent lower at 2,419.77, meaning that the Irish market lost almost 4 per cent of its value – or more than €7 billion in value – during the tumult of the the past week.
Bank of Ireland proved an outperformer on a day that saw European banks bear the brunt of the sell-off. The lender held up relatively well, inching ahead to 9.2 cent, amid speculation that the stock will be re-weighted in some FTSE indexes on Monday evening to take into account the fact that the State will take a 15 per cent stake in the institution.
Index bellwether CRH has been struggling all week and fell another 3 per cent, or 34 cent, to €11.11.
Ryanair enjoyed some gains after announcing it had bought and cancelled 16 million of its own shares, which will have come as good news to shareholders. However, the carrier was a touch softer at below €3.09 at the close.
Bookmaker Paddy Power bucked the downward trend, rising 23 cent to €32.85 as markets reacted to news of its one-off €26 million Australian tax windfall.
Overall volumes remained thin across the market.
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