Cairo shares plunge 3.49% after landmark vote

Egypt's stock exchange on the outskirts of Cairo. By Khaled Desouki (AFP/File)

CAIRO (AFP) - Share prices on the Egypt Exchange declined almost 3.5 percent on Sunday, a day after the first results of a landmark presidential election.

The main EXG-30 index shed 3.49 percent to reach 4,789.14 points at closing in the bourse's the first session since the presidential poll on May 23 and 24.

Final votes were still being counted, but unofficial results suggested that the top two candidates were the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq, a former premier under ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

"The first results of the presidential election have added to the political nervousness and uncertainty for the future," financial analyst Mostafa Saad told AFP.

The top two candidates are set to face each other in a June 16 and 17 run-off, but official results from the election commission are yet to be announced.

The election is the final phase of a military-led transition marked by political upheaval and deadly clashes. The economy has been hit hard by the popular uprising that ousted Mubarak in 2011.