European shares gave up earlier gains to end firmly in negative territory on Friday after Britain and Italy confirmed their first coronavirus cases, and with a set of disappointing euro-zone indicators also weighing on sentiment. DublinAs with other markets, the Iseq was weaker on Friday, closing 1 per cent lower with little in the way of company news to motivate investors. Bank of Ireland was down 4.2 per cent with AIB rebounding at the close to end 2 per cent lower. Other movers include Smurfit Kappa, down 2.6 per cent, Flutter, which was 1.6 per cent lower and Iseq heavyweight CRH, which lost 1. EuropeThe pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 1.1 per cent lower, taking losses this week to 3 per cent for its worst week in almost six months.

Source: The Irish Times January 31, 2020 18:22 UTC