The Egyptian stock exchange's benchmark index has shed over 2 percent as clashes between protesters and security forces entered their second day in Cairo. The EGX30 index was down 2.4 percent by 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, the start of the trading week in Egypt. The declines came as rock-throwing protesters battled riot police in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak in February. They want the country's military rulers to quickly announce a date when they plan to hand over power to a civilian government. The clashes come days before milestone parliamentary elections — the first in nearly three decades that don't include the former ruling party.