Egypt stocks plummet on unrest

Egypt's benchmark stock index fell sharply early Monday, dragged down by investor panic after the country's capital was engulfed by violent clashes not seen since the revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak in February.

The Egyptian Exchange's EGX30 index dropped by over 5 percent within minutes of the start of the trading session, but rebounded slightly to a roughly 3 percent drop by 11:10 a.m. local time. The drop was fueled by violent clashes overnight between minority Coptic Christians, majority Muslims and security forces - an eruption of the sectarian tensions that traders feared presented the country with its gravest challenges yet since the revolution.

"There was already a sense of panic and, after last night's events, we expect declines today, tomorrow and going forward for a while," said Khaled Naga, a senior broker with Mega Investments. "Things are lousy."

"This is the most dangerous situation that has happened since the revolution," said Naga. "Everyone (in the market) is thinking like this."

The declines pushed the index's year-to-date losses to over 45 percent so far and offered a window into the battering Egypt's economy has sustained since the start of the Jan. 25 revolution. Traders were skeptical the rebound would hold.