Mubarak ignores calls to step down, shuffles Cabinet

Thousands of Egyptian protesters congregated in central Cairo for a fifth day of protests, in defiance of a military-imposed curfew, after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ignored demands to resign.

Mubarak spoke in a televised address to the nation just after midnight in Cairo after ordering the army into the streets to restore order. Forty people were killed and another 1,100 people were injured on Friday and Saturday in the clashes that have swept major cities, including Cairo, according to the Egyptian health ministry. The government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif resigned today at Mubarak’s request.

Stocks worldwide fell the most since November and crude oil posted the biggest jump since 2009 as the protests grew.

Fitch Ratings revised Egypt’s outlook to negative, and the country’s dollar bond yields rose to record highs. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped on Friday, the most since August, tumbling 1.8 per cent. In an interview today, Egyptian Central Bank Governor, Farouk El-Okdah, said the country has $36 billion in foreign currency reserves, enough to accommodate investors should they wish to withdraw funds.

The protests in Egypt began on January 25, inspired by an uprising that ousted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14. Egypt’s benchmark EGX30 stock index plunged 11 per cent on January 27, the most since October 2008.