Moroccan equities finished the trading day in the red on Friday as weakness in the Utilities, Banking and Mining sectors pulled the benchmark down. At the close in Casablanca, the Moroccan All Shares index recorded a drop of 1.52%.
Among individual stocks, the session's strongest performers included Wafa Assurance (CSE:WAA), which climbed 8.25% - a rise of 376.00 points - to finish at 4,934.00. Realis. Mecaniques (CSE:SRM) added 5.72%, gaining 25.95 points to end at 479.95. Marocaine pour le Commerce et l’Industrie Banque SA (CSE:BCI) also showed strength, rising 4.83% or 29.00 points to close at 630.00.
Conversely, several miners and other large-cap names were among the session's heaviest decliners. SMI (CSE:SMI) led the losers, falling 9.99% - down 734.00 points - to trade at 6,616.00 at the close. Miniere Touissit (CSE:CMT) slipped 9.97%, a decline of 285.00 points to 2,575.00, while Managem (CSE:MNG) fell 5.16% or 449.00 points to finish at 8,251.00.
Market breadth on the Casablanca Stock Exchange tilted decisively toward falling stocks, with 44 issues declining versus 12 advancing and 6 ending unchanged.
Commodities showed mixed moves on the session. Crude oil for March delivery rose 0.40% or 0.26 to $65.68 a barrel. Brent crude for April delivery was up 0.40% or 0.28, reaching $69.87 a barrel. April Gold Futures moved lower, falling 6.12% or 327.51 to trade at $5,027.29 a troy ounce.
Currency pairs involving the Moroccan dirham also shifted: EUR/MAD increased 0.18% to 10.84, while USD/MAD rose 0.64% to 9.10. The US Dollar Index Futures was higher on the session, up 0.49% at 96.61.
Overall, the trading day featured notable outperformance from a handful of insurers and industrial stocks, but broader market direction was dictated by losses in mining and other heavyweight sectors, resulting in a net decline for the Moroccan All Shares index.