Europe's leading stocks markets closed sharply lower this evening, due to fears that recent gains had moved too far in the absence of evidence of a quick economic recovery.
In Dublin, the ISEQ lost 103 points (3.6%) to finish at 2,785, with bank shares losing ground again. AIB fell 36 cent to €1.76 and Bank of Ireland lost 27 cent to €1.66. Irish Life & Permanent, which named director Kevin Murphy its new chief executive, fell 19 cent to €3.27. Bookmaker Paddy Power was down 58 cent at €16.92, but food group Kerry added 57 to €15.40.
In London, the FTSE fell 50 points (1.2%) to end at 4,278, with energy shares down due to weaker oil and metal prices. But telecoms stocks fared well, with Vodafone up 3.7% at 117p. In Frankfurt, the DAX lost 1.9% to 4,800 and in Paris the CAC closed down 1.6% at 3,161.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones was up 22 points at 8,527, while the Nasdaq was 12 points ahead at 1,809. Earlier, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 88 points (0.9%) to close at 9,841 on bargain hunting after a sharp drop yesterday. The Hang Seng lost 81 points to 18,085.
