The benchmark EGX30 index dropped 6.25 percent within 15 minutes of the market's open Thursday. The index had dropped over 6.1 percent on Wednesday, the second day of protests in which demonstrators called for President Hosni Mubarak's ouster.

Traders said investors had hoped the crisis would end by Wednesday but fresh clashes that day and expectations of a mass demonstration on Friday have largely undercut hopes for a quick solution to the turmoil.