BANK WORRIES DEEPEN DECEMBER GLOOM - Irish shares took another plunge yesterday. Kevin McConnell, head of research with Bloxham Stockbrokers, said December was usually one of the best month for stock markets, but this year there were worries about the international banking sector.
He said sub-prime problem was lingering as a problem, as people were still not sure what exposure the big banks had to the issue.
Mr McConnell said markets would start recovering only when audited accounts for most of the world's big banks emerged in the first quarter of next year.
Mr McConnell said any type of negative news was being amplified at the moment, which was the case with Irish Life & Permanent's trading statement yesterday.
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BROADBAND SPEED LIMITS NOW PROBLEM - Chambers Ireland is concerned about the limited range and speed of broadband services available in Ireland.
Claire Cunningham, chair of Chambers' digital policy council, said she welcomed a report from Forfás yesterday which showed that take-up was improving, but was concerned with the quality of broadband on the market.
She said there was a need to shift from the standard connection to next generation networks, which gave much greater capacity.
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NEWS IN BRIEF - Anglo-Irish Bank has announced its selling its Swiss Bank. It accounted for 1% of the group's profits last year.
Kingspan Century has won a €4m contract from the British government to help provide carbon free homes in a new community near Bristol.
Arthur Cox was last night awarded Irish Law Firm of the Year 2007 at the inaugural M&A Awards in London.
