Europe's main stock markets fell this evening amid fears about the economic outlook fuelled by last week's disappointing US employment figures.
In Dublin, the ISEQ lost 95 points (3.5%) to 2,598, with the market's biggest company, building materials group CRH, down 80 cent at €15.17 ahead of a trading update tomorrow. Elan gave up more of last week's strong gains, ending down 42 cent at €5.43, while drinks group C&C fell back 21 cent to €2.48. Bank of Ireland dropped seven cent to €1.47.
London's FTSE closed down 41 points (1%) at 4,195, with energy stocks hit by falls in commodity prices. Frankfurt's DAX fell 1.2% to 4,652 and in Paris the CAC also dropped 1.2% to 3,082.
On Wall Street, markets were also down after Friday's holiday, though better than expected figures from the service sector limited the losses. The Dow Jones was down 23 points at 8,258, while the Nasdaq also lost 23 points to 1,774. Japanese share prices closed down 135 points (1.38%) to end at 9,681 as investors took profits ahead of US corporate earnings results due later this week. The Hang Seng dropped 224 points to 17,979.
