CAIRO—The selloff in Egyptian stocks that sent Egypt’s benchmark stock index fell to a 23-month low on Wednesday left shares in Cairo valued at a premium to global depositary receipts and regional markets, a signal that losses may deepen.

The EGX 30 Index, the world’s worst-performing stock measure this year, retreated 8.9 percent to 5,142.71, the lowest level since April 2009, at Wednesday’s close. Trading was halted for 30 minutes after the EGX 100 index fell 7 percent. Orascom Construction Industries, the nation’s largest publicly traded builder, retreated to the lowest since July 2009. Commercial International Bank plunged 10 percent.

The drop “is normal given the lock-up period and the political and economic circumstances,” said Walaa Hazem, vice president for asset management at HC Security & Investment. Shares may fall another day or two, he said.

Egypt’s bourse resumed trading two days before a deadline that could have led to its removal from the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The bourse will allow the EGX 100 Index to drop as much as 10 percent, exchange spokesman Hisham Turk said on Wednesday. The measure lost 9 percent at the close.

President Hosni Mubarak bowed to mass protests and resigned on February 11 after three decades in power. The uprising against his regime caused tourists to flee, companies and banks to shutter and raised the government’s borrowing costs.

The yield on Egypt’s 10-year dollar bond fell for a seventh day to 6.5 percent, the lowest level since the middle of February, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The rate reached 7.21 percent on January 31. The cost of protecting Egyptian government debt against default fell 2 basis points to 351 from the London close on Wednesday, according to CMA prices. They have dropped 25 basis points this week.

The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority, which regulates financial markets, said last month trading will be halted for 30 minutes if the EGX 100 Index falls more than 5 percent. If the drop extends to 10 percent, trading will be suspended for a period to be set by the bourse chairman. Daily share price movements will be limited to 10 percent and trading reduced to three hours from four.

“The circuit breakers are hurting the market and they have to be removed soon so we can get back to a free market,” said Ashraf Akhnoukh, senior equity sales trader at Commercial International Brokerage Co. “We expected this to happen.”

Egypt’s stock exchange also suspended trading of 46 companies on Wednesday after they failed to meet disclosure requirements. Ezz Steel, the country’s largest traded steel producer, and property developer Amer Group were among those whose shares were halted. Ahmed Ezz, the Ezz Steel’s chairman and a former senior official in Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, is on trial for corruption charges. He has denied any wrongdoing.

“While there have been positive developments on the political side, the protests in Egypt did take a toll on the economy,” Yong Wei Lee, a senior fund manager at Emirates NBD Asset Management in Dubai, said. “It’s too early to consider bargain hunting. The Egyptian market will remain volatile for a while.”

The EGX 30 Index is the world’s worst-performing gauge this year after plunging 28 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The measure rose 15 percent last year and 35 percent in 2009.

“We expect that the Egyptian market may fall by 20 percent to 30 percent in the first few weeks of trading post-reopening, with the pace slowed by circuit breakers,” Simon Kitchen, strategist at Cairo-based EFG-Hermes Holding SAE, wrote in an e-mailed report before trading started. “The market’s recovery will be slow and will depend on the pace of political developments and the extent of economic recovery.”

(Bloomberg News)