Positive Trends in the Casablanca Stock Market
The Casablanca Stock Exchange concluded the week from May 4 to May 8 on a positive note, primarily driven by an increase in its main index, the MASI, which rose by 1.98%, reaching a total of 18,950.94 points. This uptick is part of a broader upward trend that has also affected the key market indices. The MASI 20, which includes the most liquid stocks, saw a 2.07% increase, settling at 1,384.03 points. Meanwhile, the MASI ESG, which consists of companies recognized for their strong environmental, social, and governance practices according to Moody’s ESG Solutions, experienced a 1.25% rise to reach 1,338.62 points.
Sector Performance Highlights
The segment of small and medium capitalizations also demonstrated robust performance, with the MASI Mid and Small Cap climbing 3.31% to 1,984.55 points. In terms of sector performance, the industrial sector led the weekly gains, with engineering and industrial equipment showing the most significant rise of 12.48%. Following closely were the pharmaceutical industry with a 10.15% increase, and the agricultural sector, which grew by 6.86%. Conversely, certain sectors faced declines, particularly the distributors, which dropped by 2.47%, followed by forestry and paper at -1.54% and insurance at -1.08%.
Trading activity remained vigorous, with a total trading volume exceeding 1.26 billion dirhams, primarily concentrated in the central equity market. The transactions were largely dominated by Managem, accounting for 14.76% of the exchanges, followed by Attijariwafa Bank at 9.42% and Itissalat Al-Maghrib at 6.87%. The total market capitalization of the Casablanca exchange surpassed 1,082.78 billion dirhams.
Regarding individual stock performances, SMI registered the highest weekly increase, soaring by 15.23% to reach 10,198 dirhams. It was followed by Stroc Industrie, which rose by 14.87% to 224 dirhams, and Microdata with a 13.17% increase to 765 dirhams. Other notable gains included Balima, which climbed 11.01% to 229.8 dirhams, and Salafin, which increased by 8.98% to 484.95 dirhams. On the downside, Rebab Company experienced the most significant drop of the week, decreasing by 9.44% to 95 dirhams. Promopharm also fell by 7.6% to 1,300 dirhams, while Maroc Leasing and M2M Group reported declines of 5.21% and 4.31%, respectively.
As reported by lnt.ma.
