The ISEQ in Dublin closed down 37 points to 5066 as the market failed to recover from a downward trend that emerged at 10am.
The banks closed mainly down. AIB was down 18c to €13.38 and Bank of Ireland was down 14c to €11.24.
Anglo closed unchanged at €13.60 and Irish L&P was down 5c to €13.55. The bank said today that its General Secretary, Sean Ryan, is to retire in May.
Shares in Ryanair were down 7c to €7.80 ahead of the European Commission's ruling tomorrow on the budget carrier's deal at Charleroi airport.
The airline was the second busiest stock today on the exchange.
Shares in Gresham fell 1c to €1.22 on busy trading after Friday’s decision by the Takeover Panel to give the consortium considering making a bid for the hotel chain a week to make a decision.
Weekend reports indicated that the consortium may raise its offer to €1.40 per share from €1.35.
Meanwhile Jurys was up 20c to €10.45.
Iona was down over 6.5% today, falling 40c to €5.70 and Fyffes was busy with 1.2m shares traded.
The fruit distributor closed unchanged at €1.70.
The London market closed down 9 points today to 4381. Vodafone fell 2p to £1.35 on speculation that it might make a costly bid for US player AT&T Wireless.