A slide in oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell also weighed, with Shell reporting its lowest annual profit in at least two decades. AIB traded up nearly 1 per cent while rival Bank of Ireland lost ground, closing the session down 1 per cent. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index edged 0.1 per cent lower, while the mid-cap index added 0.3 per cent. A pandemic-driven surge in online shopping during the holiday season helped e-commerce firm eBay and payment platform PayPal top quarterly earnings estimates. EBay shares jumped 8.6 per cent, while PayPal gained 8.4 per cent.

Source: The Irish Times February 04, 2021 18:22 UTC