DUBLIN REPORT:A BANK holiday in the US meant markets were comparatively quiet yesterday, while weaker financials and a fall in commodity-related stocks meant most leading indices fell back on the day. Dublin was no different, with the Iseq index of Irish shares closing 0.39 per cent off at 4,477.2.

The financial stocks were a mixed bag yesterday, dealers said. AIBwas down five cent or 0.58 per cent at €8.65. Anglo Irishdropped 14 cent or 2.35 per cent at €5.81, Irish Life and Permanentlost 5.9 cent, close to 1 per cent, to close at €6.301. However, the company had made some ground since publishing results for the first half of the year last week.

Building materials group CRHinched ahead by 0.37 per cent, gaining 6.6 cent to end the day at €17.866. Volumes were low, with 440,000 or so shares changing hands in Dublin.

In a related sector, insulation specialist Kingspanadded 25 cent to close at €8.05, a gain of 3.21 per cent.

Builders' merchant Graftonfell 3.13 per cent to €3.72. Earlier,stockbroking firm Davy issued a note cutting its forecast earnings for the group to 41 cent per share from a previous prediction of 48 cent. Packaging specialist Smurfit Kappamade one of the biggest gains of the day, adding 27 cent to close at €4.67. About two million shares were traded in the stock yesterday. Dealers said this was strong in the context of the overall level of business done in the market yesterday. They believe that investors saw some value in these stocks at the prices at which they traded yesterday.

Falling oil prices benefited airlines across Europe, and Ryanairadded close to 2 per cent to close five cent up at €2.64.

Oil was down by around 4 per cent on world markets yesterday as it emerged that hurricane Gustav was likely to be less severe than predicted.

Iseq: 4,477.20 (-17.72) Settlement date: September 4th