( CNN ) -- Six months into his presidency , Mohamed Morsy has at times taken investors on a rollercoaster ride of uncertainty . Events of the past week are an accurate reflection of the ups and downs that investors have been experiencing . Morsy was front and center of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas while holding court in Cairo with the Prime Minister of Turkey , the Secretary General of the United Nations and the U.S. Secretary of State . Read more : Egypt president 's tricky game of power . Hillary Clinton heaped praise on Morsy , suggesting he has stepped up to the plate to rebuild Egypt 's pivotal role in the region . During the same week , after months of on again-off again negotiations , the International Monetary Fund signed a preliminary agreement to lend $ 4.8 billion to the cash-strapped country . But Morsy capped the week by making a power play to wrestle control of the constitutional drafting process by issuing a decree giving him unchecked powers . More from John Defterios : Why Iran is caught in currency crisis . Mohammed Al Ississ , professor of economics at the American University in Cairo , says the president `` tried to seize the moment and move ahead in capturing more power . What Egypt needs to focus on now is institution building rather than a power grab . '' Investors feel the same way , getting their first chance to respond Sunday with the largest sell-off since January 2011 , when the protests to oust Hosni Mubarak began . More than $ 5 billion of market capitalization was wiped out during the session . Read more : Egypt 's new president : U.S.-educated Islamist . Al Ississ described the effort to leverage the goodwill built up by the ceasefire and meeting conditions for the IMF loan as a `` giant miscalculation '' by the Islamist leader . This move comes only ten days after the European Union stepped up to assist Egypt with a pledge to offer $ 6.4 billion in loans and grants to the Middle East 's most populous country . Morsy has met a full range of challenges since taking office and has responded with decisiveness . Case in point : The outbreak of violence in the Sinai was met with a sweeping out of the top military brass in Egypt including field marshal Mohamed Tantawi . But his biggest challenge , strategists suggest , is trying to appease members of his own Freedom and Justice Party and the ultra conservative Salafis wing . At the same time , those who pushed for the removal of former President Mubarak believe their revolution has been hijacked . Morsy 's gesture to meet with the Supreme Judicial Council calmed the markets , but he has to manage the `` man on the street '' as large scale protests unfold Tuesday . As this clash of opposing views takes place , the tough work of building a solid economic foundation gets delayed . `` Big reforms that need to be enacted have been at a standstill for the last few years , '' says Hisham El-Khazindar , co-founder and managing director of Citadel Capital . At the top of his list is cutting down the cost of fuel and food subsidies which took the budget deficit to over 10 % of GDP in the last fiscal year . `` You have a budget deficit that is ballooning , a current account deficit deteriorating and you have investments both local and international at a standstill , you know taking a wait and see approach , '' says El-Khazindar . Citadel raised $ 3.7 billion to fund a refinery operation after the uprising . The private equity group says another $ 4 billion is sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how Morsy will play his cards this week and beyond . During the uprising , growth plummeted from over 5 % down in 2010 to 1.8 % last year and only climbed slightly to 2.6 % in the latest quarter ending in September . This means making solid calculations for 2013 will prove to be difficult for everything from Suez Canal receipts to tourism visitors . `` We are back to ground zero when it comes to the uncertainty , '' said Al Ississ of American University in Cairo .
As Hosni Mubarak capped Sunday by issuing a decree giving him unchecked powers . Investors reacted and the largest sell-off since the week , when the protests to oust Mohamed Morsy , began . $ 4.8 billion of market capitalization was wiped out during the Sunday session .