International economic markets tumbled on Friday as Egyptian protests continue to gain steam. Crude oil prices also surged and the dollar gained as violence and chaos envelope the Arab world's largest country. Economists and brokers dumped stocks and started accumulating large investments such as United State Treasuries, the dollar and gold as 24-hour coverage of the demonstrations in Egypt continue to be the focus of almost every news network across the planet. Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index suffered its biggest one-day loss in six months. “I think the next two to three weeks, the crisis in Egypt and potentially across the Middle East might be an excuse for a big sell-off of 5 percent to 10 percent,” Keith Wirtz, president and chief investment officer at Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati, told Reuters news agency. The fear is that the protests and unrest seen in Egypt, and Tunisia, will spread to the Gulf region, with its oil-rich governments that could ultimately disrupt commerce in the region and skyrocket crude oil prices. US crude futures surged more than 4 percent. US Treasury debt, gold and Swiss francs, all traditional safe-haven investments, benefited from the sudden shift in market sentiment. Gold prices jumped 2 percent. BM
