DUBLIN: Sterling-sensitive stocks such as C&C, Total Produce and Bank of Ireland were out of sorts on Monday in Dublin as the UK currency continued its losing streak against the euro as a third round of Brexit talks resumed in Brussels. The wider European markets was also out of sorts, with the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index falling 0.5 per cent, as currency markets news dominated, with the euro holding steady at above $1.19 against the dollar, its strongest level since January 2015. Dealers said trading activities were subdued on this side of the Atlantic as UK investors enjoyed a bank holiday. The Iseq index lost 0.6 per cent to 6,603.14, marking its third decline in four sessions, as sterling extended its four-week slide compared with the euro, even as analysts at banks such as ING Groep and Nordea said that movement had been overdone and that parity between the currency pair was unlikely. The euro was trading at 92.3p at the end of the European session on Monday, compared with a level of 76.6p just before the Brexit referendum last year. C&C lost 1.8 per cent to €2.92, while Total Produce dropped 1.1 per cent to €2.17 and Bank of Ireland, which has about 40 per cent of its loan book in the UK, traded 1.1 per cent lower at €6.93.
CRH declined by 2.2 per cent to €29.02 as followers of the US building materials sector, where the Irish group derives much of its earnings, monitored the US weather map. “The sector was under pressure late on Friday as Hurricane Harvey (it was later downgraded to a tropical storm) approached Texas. CRH’s exposure in southeastern Texas is small and it is concentrated in the group’s products businesses,” said Davy analysts on Monday. “Of cement producers, Martin Marietta, Buzzi, Cemex and HeidelbergCement are most directly exposed in the region.”
