ISEQ down by 37.86 points
The ISEQ was down 37.86 points to 6267.39 this morning, with downward shifts for many of the market's heavy-hitters.
Building materials group CRH was down 45 cent to €19.65, despite a positive trading statement which boosted expected 2004 profits through the €1bn barrier, up from profits of €864m in 2003.
In today's statement, CRH said a record estimate of 77,000 houses were built in Ireland in 2004, compared with 68,800 in 2003. The company added that demand from the infrastructure sector was also strong in 2004 but eased somewhat in the closing months as some major projects were completed ahead of schedule.
In other market news, all of the financials were down. AIB saw a fall of seven cent to €15.29. Bank of Ireland stock fell by the same amount, to leave a current price of €12.26. Anglo Irish Bank saw a larger drop of 16 cent, bringing its shareprice to €18.10. Irish Life and Permanent saw a fall of one cent to €13.90.
Irish Life and Permanent made news toady by releasing a study which revealed high consumer confidence going into 2005.
The number of respondents who said they expected to be better off this year was higher than the number who expected to be worse off, according to the survey.
