The ISEQ was flat in weak Summer trading on Wednesday as shares in Europe and on Wall Street dipped and with Icon leading the fall.

The index fell 32.31 points to 2,911.52.

European stocks ended lower on Wednesday, halting a brisk one-week rally as an unexpected drop in U.S. durable goods orders revived worries on the economy and prompted investors to book some of their recent gains. On Wall Street, the S and P 500 struggled to break a key technical level as conflicting reports showing improved corporate earnings and falling orders for the most expensive manufactured goods kept U.S. stocks slightly lower. The Standard and Poor's 500 index has failed to gain any significant ground. It fell on Tuesday after a three-day rally up to its 200-day moving average, a closely watched measure of market direction.

Back home, shares in AIB were down 2c to E0.93, Bank of Ireland dipped 1c to E0.83 but Irish Life and Permanent climbed 10c to E1.74.

Bank Zachodni (BZ) - in which AIB is a major shareholder - reported net profit for the second quarter of 250m zloty (versus 262m zloty Reuters consensus). The result was helped by CHF and euro appreciation versus the zloty but suffered from greater-than-expected loan losses. It was marginally ahead of the result for Q1 (233m zloty) but marginally below that of a year ago (258m zloty).

Shares in the Dublin based, Wall Street and Dublin-listed clinical trials group, Icon, have plunged after a warning by it that sales will be at the lower end of guidance this year. The shares closed USD 2.55, or 9.21pc, lower last night at USD 25.14 in New York after the group's comments and second-quarter results. It reported a marginal increase in earnings for the second quarter, as revenues grew by 2pc over last year. However, it also said it now expects its final results for 2010 will be at the lower end of the guidance range given in February. In Dublin, its shares dived by 80c to E19.20.

Shares in CRH dropped by 26c to E16.24. Cemex has reported Q2 core profits of USD664m (-13pc annually), which was broadly in-line with consensus (wide range on expectations from USD645m to USD708m). Second quarter sales at USD3.8bn (-3pc) were better than the Street's estimate of USD3.72-3.77bn. The group cut its full year core profits guidance from USD2.75bn to USD2.65bn, and the stock fell 2.8pc overnight as a result.

Shares in Ryanair fell 4c to E3.79. A five million block of shares traded in the airline on Tuesday on behalf of the chief executive, Michael O'Leary, came a week after the first quarter results. This matches the 5m block that traded on June 5 last year, just days after the 2009 results. Mr O'Leary has heavily flagged his periodic selling of the stock. He now has 55 million shares and, since the start of 2000, he has sold a cumulative 37.5m shares including the latest batch.