Egypt benchmark index slumps

EFG drops 7.3% as egx slides 2.8%, the biggest fall since march 13. Egypt's benchmark stock index fell the most in almost two weeks after football-related clashes left one person dead and tension between the biggest party and the military fuelled new concerns about the transition to democracy. EFG-Hermes Holding SAE, the biggest publicly traded Arab investment bank, tumbled 7.3 per cent. Egyptian Resorts Co plunged the most it has in seven months. The benchmark EGX 30 Index declined 2.8 per cent, the most since March 13, to 5,003.16 at 1.42pm in Cairo. Most Arabian Gulf markets gained. Clashes Sixty-eight people were injured in clashes between security forces and supporters of football club Al Masry, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported yesterday, citing the health ministry. They were protesting against a ban on the Port Said-based team after deadly violence in February. Separately, the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party dominates parliament, criticised the ruling military council for not firing the cabinet of Prime Minister Kamal Al Ganzouri. "There was no real positive news coming out over the weekend so today we're seeing mainly the concerns of retail investors about rising tensions between the military council and the Muslim Brotherhood, the clashes in Port Said and the fuel shortage," said Teymour Al Derini, head of Middle East and North Africa sales at Naeem Brokerage in Cairo. Footage on Egyptian tele-vision over the weekend showed long queues of vehicles waiting at petrol stations and some were closed yesterday or turning drivers away, citing a shortage of fuel. State-owned Egyptian General Petroleum said on Thursday it was increasing supplies to stations to meet a surge in demand driven partly by buyers who illegally export subsidised fuel. From : Gulfnews