Stocks in Morocco closed weaker on Thursday, with the Moroccan All Shares index ending the trading day down 0.62% in Casablanca. Pressure came from several sectors, notably Utilities, Banking and Mining, which collectively contributed to the downward move.
Market breadth was tilted toward falling issues on the Casablanca Stock Exchange. Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by 35 to 18, and 7 names finished unchanged, reflecting a session where sellers held the upper hand.
Top performers
- M2M Group (CSE:M2M) led gains, rising 4.99% - a 20.95 point increase to close at 441.00.
- Disway SA (CSE:DWY) added 3.73%, up 28.90 points to finish at 802.90.
- SMI (CSE:SMI) climbed 2.91%, a 250.00 point gain to 8,850.00 at the close.
Biggest decliners
- Realis. Mecaniques (CSE:SRM) posted the largest drop among major losers, down 3.51% or 18.00 points to 495.00.
- Travaux Generaux De Construction De Casablanca S.A (CSE:TGC) fell 3.18%, a 25.00 point decline to end at 762.00.
- Taqa Morocco SA (CSE:TQM) declined 2.65% or 49.00 points to 1,800.00.
Beyond equities, energy and precious metals showed mixed moves. Crude oil for June delivery was down 1.65% - a decline of 1.76 to trade at $105.12 a barrel. Brent oil for July delivery fell 0.67%, down 0.74 to $109.70 a barrel. By contrast, the June Gold Futures contract advanced 1.64%, rising 74.96 to trade at $4,636.46 a troy ounce.
Currency pairs involving the Moroccan dirham also moved: EUR/MAD eased 0.13% to 10.82, while USD/MAD fell 0.21% to 9.23. In broader dollar measures, the US Dollar Index Futures declined 0.84% to 98.00.
This session’s price action saw a concentration of weakness in sector groups named above, while a small set of stocks recorded meaningful upticks. The combination of weaker sector performance, negative breadth and mixed moves in commodities and FX illustrated a broadly cautious market tone at the Casablanca close.