Egypt shares slumped the most since November, leading a drop in Arab markets, after global stocks tumbled on concern Europe’s debt crisis will spread beyond Greece and slow the global economic recovery. Crude oil fell to $75 a barrel. Orascom Telecom Holding SAE lost the most this year as Algeria reiterated intensions to buy Orascom’s unit in the country, objecting to a proposed sale to MTN Group Ltd. Air Arabia PJSC dropped the most since March as profit declined. Egypt’s EGX plunged 5.1 percent, the biggest slump since Nov. 30, to 6,756 at the close in Cairo. Dubai’s DFM General Index declined 1.2 percent and Qatar’s QE Index fell 4 percent.
“The international melt-down scenario related to Greek sovereign debt” is pushing Arab markets lower, said Dubai-based Yazan Abdeen, a fund manager at ING Investment Management (Dubai) Ltd. “If you think in the gloom scenario, international demand falls and hence oil, and that leads to less sovereign government revenue.”
Stocks fell globally last week on concern Europe will be unable to contain the spiraling government debt crisis. European shares tumbled the most in 18 months before euro-region leaders met in Brussels to endorse the Greek bailout. Moody’s Investors Service said banks in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland and the U.K. could be at risk as the threat of contagion grows. The MSCI World Index slid 2.3 percent to 1,099.58 on May 7, the lowest close since Feb. 8.
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