The market had a particularly weak day yesterday, extending its losses by 1.4 per cent as trade continued to lack direction. The financials once again attracted most attention and came in for the biggest beating.

Settlement Day: September 30th

Bank of Ireland dropped 16 cents to 10.41 on volume of five million shares as overseas investors continued to sell the stock in the wake of Tuesday's trading statement. AIB also had a bad day, falling back by 30 cents to 12.81. There was good appetite for Anglo Irish, with four million shares traded as the stock ticked down 15 cents to 9.35. Irish Life & Permanent fell seven cents to 11.25 on volume of less than half a million shares.

Outside the financials, IAWS became the sole newsmaker on the day when it reported solid full-year results. The stock finished 20 cents lower at 8.70 on the numbers, as profit-takers moved to cash in recent gains.

Ryanair traded in a tight range between 5.90 and 6.00 for much of the day before closing at €5.97, down nine cents.

Fellow heavyweight CRH had a poor day too, falling 41 cents to 15.85 on concerns over its dollar exposure.

Independent News & Media was more solid, but dropped one cent to 1.70 at the close as more than three million shares changed hands.

Volume was also notable among smaller stocks, with Datalex seeing reasonable business as it rose five cents to 50 cents. Exploration minnow Providence Resources notched up uncharacteristic volume of some 200,000 shares on suggestions of oil within its Celtic Sea holding. The stock, which has more than doubled in value since the start of the year, closed unchanged at 17 cents last night. Bucking the trend in dramatic fashion however was FBD, which closed 1 higher at 9.90 on minimal volume. Irish Continental Group also closed positively, rising 32 cents to €10.07 amid good buying interest.