Iseq: 2,912.70 (–22.51) Settlement date: February 1stTHE ISEQ got off to a bad start on news of Japan's debt downgrade yesterday morning but moved ahead during the day and then dipped again towards the close.

The index finished just shy of 1 per cent lower, pushed down in part by a 0.68 per cent drop in CRH, its largest constituent. The building materials group gave up 11 cent to finish at €16.02 on decent volume, having done well earlier in the week.

Smurfit Kappa was more positive, touching €9 before closing at €8.975, up 21.5 cents, after its Swedish peer SCA issued an encouraging update. Smurfit’s full-year results are due on February 9th.

The financials were mixed, with Irish Life Permanent on the winning side at the close. Shares in the bancassurance group gained 7.8 cents, or 9.14 per cent, to end the session at 93.1 cents.

Fellow financial Bank of Ireland added 0.7 cent to reach 32.4 cents, while AIB, whose listing has been relegated to the junior market, shed 0.1 cent to close at 25.5 cents.

IFG fell by 3 cents to €1.23, having earlier reaffirmed its guidance for the year.

Tullow was among the other news makers on the day, issuing a solid trading update. Shares rose by 26.5 cents to €15.85.

Also in the news was CPL, which reported strong first-half numbers. The recruitment group gained 10 cents to finish at €2.95.

Ryanair, which will issue third-quarter numbers on Monday, fell by 2.7 cents to €3.64. Fellow airline and investment interest Aer Lingus moved in the other direction, rising by 3.1 cents to €1.06.

DCC also climbed, adding 13 cents to reach €22.11, helped by recent broker upgrades.

Kingspan was weaker, declining by 20.8 cents to €6.70.

Prime Active Capital shares closed unchanged at 17 cents.