Ireland Stock Market Today, 21 November 2025: ISEQ Slips Below 12,000 as Banks Weigh, Kerry and CRH Stand Out

Ireland’s stock market finished Friday, 21 November 2025, on the back foot, with the ISEQ All-Share index drifting lower in line with a global sell-off in technology shares and renewed worries about interest rates.

Based on end-of-day data, the ISEQ All Share closed just under the psychological 12,000 mark at around 11,992, down roughly 0.26% on the day and about 1.4% lower for the week. ^[1]

While Irish banks, Ryanair and packaging giant Smurfit WestRock traded weaker, Kerry Group outperformed, and investors digested a busy corporate and policy backdrop that included CRH’s ex‑dividend date, fresh takeover activity, and lingering implications of Finance Bill 2025.

Headline numbers: ISEQ tracks global risk-off mood

ISEQ All Share: c. 11,992, down about 0.26% versus Thursday’s close, according to historical data from major market providers and Irish broker Davy. ^[2]
Over the week, the benchmark has slipped roughly 1.4%, extending the pullback that began after this month’s sharp global tech sell-off. ^[3]

The move mirrors a broader reversal across Europe. The pan‑European STOXX 600 fell about 1% on Friday and is on track for its steepest weekly loss since late March, as investors question lofty tech valuations and brace for a potentially more hawkish US Federal Reserve. ^[4]

Asian markets also traded lower after Wall Street reversed gains on Thursday, and a fresh wobble in Bitcoin and major cryptocurrencies added to risk aversion, with BTC sliding below roughly $86,000 in Friday trade. ^[5]

Banks drag the Dublin market lower

Ireland’s heavyweight financials were a clear drag on the ISEQ on 21 November:

Bank of Ireland Group shares traded around €14.94, down roughly 0.8% by late morning, with an intraday range between about €14.73 and €14.98. ^[6]
AIB Group changed hands near €8.20, off about 0.4% on the day; historical data show a daily loss of just over 0.4% with a close near €8.21. ^[7]
Mid‑tier lender Permanent TSB Group slipped to about €3.15, down roughly 1.6% on modest volume, extending recent volatility following corporate interest in the bank. ^[8]

Behind the price action, investors are still digesting Finance Bill 2025, which:

Extends Ireland’s Bank Levy for another year into 2026, payable by AIB, Bank of Ireland, EBS and PTSB based on eligible deposits at end‑2024. ^[9]
Tweaks various corporate tax rules, including improvements to the participation exemption for foreign dividends and an increased R&D tax credit rate to 35%, changes that influence long‑term profitability and capital allocation across the banking and broader corporate sector. ^[10]

The Central Bank of Ireland’s latest Financial Stability Review 2025:2, published earlier this week, pointed to resilience but stressed risks from global rates, commercial real estate and higher funding costs—backdrop that tends to keep bank valuations in check. ^[11]

Defensive and consumer names diverge: Kerry up, Kingspan and Smurfit softer

Among major non‑financials, performance was mixed:

Kerry Group was one of the day’s brighter spots, trading around €77.70, up about 1.7% with an intraday high near €77.80. ^[12]
Building‑materials and insulation specialist Kingspan Group changed direction after an upbeat session on Thursday. Around mid‑morning, the shares traded near €65.75, down roughly 1.8% on the day after earlier gains that followed a Deutsche Bank upgrade to “Buy” and a higher price target. ^[13]
Newly combined packaging player Smurfit WestRock (London‑listed but closely followed by Irish investors) slipped almost 1.9% to around 2,516p, as markets continued to reassess earnings power and synergies after the transatlantic merger. ^[14]

These moves underline a familiar 2025 theme: defensive or cash‑generative food and ingredients names like Kerry remain in favour, while more cyclical construction and packaging stocks remain sensitive to growth jitters and rising real yields across Europe. ^[15]

CRH goes ex‑dividend – important for Irish income investors

While CRH no longer trades primarily in Dublin, it remains a key Irish‑headquartered bellwether for building materials and appears in many Irish investor portfolios and index products.

Today, 21 November 2025 is the ex‑dividend and record date for CRH’s latest quarterly payout:

The company has declared a dividend of $0.37 per ordinary share, payable on 17 December 2025, a 6% increase on the prior year’s equivalent instalment. ^[16]

Investors buying CRH shares from today onwards will not receive that December dividend. For index watchers, ex‑dividend trading can exert a small mechanical drag on price‑only benchmarks on the day, even if the underlying business story is unchanged. ^[17]

Ryanair edges lower as Tel Aviv exit hangs over sentiment

Ryanair—one of the largest constituents on Euronext Dublin—traded around €26.16, down roughly 0.15% by late morning, with an intraday range between about €25.77 and €26.35. ^[18]

The marginal decline comes as the airline faces renewed scrutiny over its withdrawal from Tel Aviv:

In recent days, Israeli and international media have reported that Tel Aviv no longer appears on Ryanair’s online destination map, after the carrier cancelled its entire 2025–26 winter schedule to Israel. ^[19]
The move follows a September statement in which Ryanair said it would not restart Tel Aviv flights for Winter 2025–26, citing the lack of confirmed summer 2026 slots and uncertainty over the availability of low‑cost Terminal 1 at Ben Gurion Airport. ^[20]

While Ryanair has framed the decision largely as an operational and slot‑allocation dispute, the step comes against a backdrop of ongoing regional security concerns and tight capacity elsewhere in Europe, prompting some analysts to see scope for redeploying aircraft into higher‑yielding markets on the continent.

For Irish investors, the key questions are whether the lost Israel capacity can be profitably redeployed and how ongoing political tensions might affect demand in other markets.

Takeover watch: M&A keeps smaller Irish names in focus

Corporate action remains a notable theme in the Irish market, even as the broader index drifts:

Dalata Hotel Group: deal reaches key settlement date

While Dalata has already been effectively taken off the board, 21 November features in the timetable of its takeover:

Pandox’s recommended all‑cash offer for Dalata Hotel Group became effective earlier this month under an Irish High Court–sanctioned scheme of arrangement. ^[21]
The scheme documents indicated that settlement of cash consideration and cancellation of Dalata’s Euronext Dublin and London listings would be completed around 21 November 2025, marking the final step in removing one of Ireland’s best‑known hotel operators from public markets. ^[22]

The deal is another reminder that private buyers and overseas capital continue to see value in Irish‑listed mid‑caps, even as equity markets wobble.

Irish Takeover Panel disclosure table: Mural, Avadel and PTSB still “in play”

The Irish Takeover Panel’s disclosure table, updated today, confirms that several Irish‑incorporated companies remain in offer periods: ^[23]

Mural Oncology plc is subject to a recommended cash offer from XOMA Royalty (via XRA 5 Corp.), with the offer period having begun in April. ^[24]
Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc is in the midst of a complex situation involving an existing scheme with Alkermes and a newer, higher unsolicited proposal from H. Lundbeck A/S, which Avadel’s board has deemed a “superior proposal”. ^[25]
Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc remains in an offer period after the Panel opened one on 30 October 2025, fuelling speculation about potential strategic interest in Ireland’s third “pillar bank”. ^[26]

On top of that, fresh filings today show:

Citadel Group disclosing a 1.32% stake in Mural Oncology, highlighting hedge‑fund interest in the outcome of the XOMA deal. ^[27]
Morgan Stanley reporting trading activity in Avadel shares, underscoring heightened institutional positioning around any revised takeover terms. ^[28]

For Dublin’s market, this cluster of deals and stakes helps support activity and valuations in selected mid‑cap names even as macro headwinds weigh on the main index.

Policy and macro backdrop: Finance Bill 2025 and Central Bank messaging

Ireland’s stock market moves today are also shaped by policy decisions announced earlier in the autumn:

Finance Bill 2025, published in October, implements the tax changes from Budget 2026 and introduces new measures aimed at promoting competitiveness and investment. ^[29]
One key change for equity markets is a new stamp duty exemption (effective from 1 January 2026) for shares in Irish‑registered companies with a closing market capitalisation below €1 billion, provided they are admitted to trading on a recognised market. In parallel, the long‑standing exemption for shares trading on Euronext Growth Dublin will be repealed. ^[30]

This shift matters for the small‑ and mid‑cap ecosystem: it could broaden relief beyond growth‑market listings while encouraging more companies to scale up and maintain Irish listings rather than seeking purely overseas venues.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Ireland has a busy week of outreach and publications:

Its Financial Stability Review 2025:2, released at the start of the week, warned about vulnerabilities from higher rates, commercial real estate and global market repricing, while still judging Irish banks as well‑capitalised. ^[31]
Today, the Bank is hosting its Retail Intermediary Roadshow 2025 in Limerick, part of a series of engagements with brokers and advisers that shape how regulatory expectations are transmitted through the financial system. ^[32]

For equity investors, this combination of tax tweaks, regulatory messaging and M&A activity forms the backdrop against which individual stock moves on 21 November are interpreted.

Global headwinds: tech rout, rates uncertainty and crypto turbulence

Irish shares rarely move in isolation. Today’s drift lower in Dublin comes amid:

A renewed sell‑off in European tech stocks, which fell about 2% as part of the broader STOXX 600 decline, reflecting nerves that the AI‑driven rally has gone too far, too fast. ^[33]
Ongoing volatility around Nvidia and other AI leaders; one widely followed note highlighted that Nvidia’s value has swung by hundreds of billions of dollars this week, fuelling concerns about a potential bubble. ^[34]
China’s equity markets heading for their biggest weekly loss since December as local tech names join the global rout, adding to the risk‑off tone in emerging markets. ^[35]
A sharp correction in crypto markets, with Bitcoin sliding below c.$86k and Ethereum down more than 7% on the day, as mixed US jobs data cloud expectations for December Fed rate cuts. ^[36]

For Ireland, this matters mainly via:

Sentiment channels – global risk aversion hits airlines, cyclicals, tech‑exposed exporters and financials.
Rate expectations – higher-for-longer US yields feed through to European rates and discount factors used in valuation models.
Earnings outlook – if global demand slows, export‑heavy Irish groups in aviation, building materials, tech services and packaging could face tougher revenue comparisons in 2026.

What Irish investors are watching next

Looking beyond today’s close, several themes are likely to dominate Irish stock‑market conversations in the coming days:

Can the ISEQ reclaim 12,000?
- After slipping just under this level today, the near‑term question is whether global risk sentiment stabilises enough for the index to bounce, or whether renewed selling pressure pushes it back towards mid‑November lows around 11,875. ^[37]
Bank valuations vs. policy headwinds
- With the Bank Levy extended into 2026 and macro uncertainties elevated, investors will reassess whether current price‑to‑book multiples for AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB adequately compensate for regulatory and credit‑cycle risks. ^[38]
CRH’s post–ex‑dividend trading
- The stock often sees modest price adjustment around ex‑div dates; traders will watch whether buy‑the‑dip flows emerge as income‑focused investors reinvest cash. ^[39]
Ryanair’s network strategy and demand outlook
- How the carrier redeploys aircraft removed from the Israel programme, and whether ongoing geopolitical risks spill over into European bookings, will be key for earnings expectations. ^[40]
Ongoing M&A and takeover situations
- Progress on Mural–XOMA, Avadel–Alkermes/Lundbeck, the strategic options for Permanent TSB, and the finalisation of the Dalata transaction will remain in focus, particularly for event‑driven funds. ^[41]
Implementation of Finance Bill 2025
- As advisors and corporates digest the detail, expect renewed attention on which Irish mid‑caps might benefit most from the new stamp‑duty regime and enhanced R&D incentives from 2026 onwards. ^[42]

All market prices above are indicative, typically delayed by around 15–20 minutes, and may be revised by data providers. This article is for information only and does not constitute investment advice.

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