Corporate earnings, business update, dividend, stock split, bonus, or any new acquisitions, in stock markets, every corporate action can trigger reaction. But what happens to exchanges across the world when protesters hit the street?
From the Arab Spring to Hong Kong's 2019 protests and Greece's anti-austerity movement between 2010 and 2012, history offers several examples of mass demonstrations that coincided with significant market fluctuations.
Arab Spring was a wave of pro-democracy protests and uprisings that took place in the Middle East and North Africa between 2010 and 2011. The wave started with protests in Tunisia, and spread to Egypt. It even led to regime change in the two countries. It also inspired similar attempts in other Arab countries too.
The protests affected the country's markets as Egypt's benchmark index recorded its biggest drop in two years on January 27, 2011, reported CNBC.
The stock market fell more than 10%. EGX 30, the primary benchmark stock market index of the Egyptian Exchange, closed down 10.5% on Jan 27, 2011. The market also fell nearly 6.25% just 15 minutes into the session. THe stock market also saw two months long suspension during the unrest.