In a horrendous day of trading on the Irish Stock Exchange, the ISEQ index closed below 5,000, hitting levels last seen in 2004, as a profit warning at CRH sent the index hurtling downwards.
The building materials group announced that its pre-tax profits for 2008 might show a high single digit percentage decline, its first profit warning in many years.
The ISEQ closed down 185.06 points or 3.65 per cent, to close at 4890.30, with construction stocks suffering on the back of CRH's bad news, which itself closed down 12.7 per cent in Dublin and 14 per cent in London, in a busy day of trading for the stock.
Grafton Group closed down 10.2 per cent to €3.18 while Kingspan closed down 3.6 per cent to €5.77. Homebuilder McInerney also had a torrid day of trading, as it fell by 26.5 per cent to €0.36.
In Europe, early gains due to good news from banking stocks, were erased as falling metal and coal prices pushed mining companies lower. Of the 18 indices in western Europe, 11 fell today.
In the UK, stocks fell for a second day as retailer Marks & Spencer told the market that its sales had dropped to 2005 levels. Shares in homebuilder Taylor Wimpey more than halved in value after it said it had failed refinance, causing the the FTSE 100 to lose 53.6 points or 1 per cent to reach 5,246.3
In France, the CAC closed 0.9 per cent, while the DAX finished down 0.1 per cent.
The US market fared better, and in early trading the benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.5 per cent to 1,291.15 points, as good news from European banking stocks buoyed the market.
