Morocco’s benchmark equities gauge ended lower on Friday, as losses in utilities, banking and mining shares outweighed advances in pharmaceuticals and construction. The Moroccan All Shares index fell 0.61% at the close in Casablanca.
Declining issues outnumbered gainers by 42 to 19 on the bourse, with six stocks unchanged. The broad retreat was led by weakness in the utilities, financial and mining sectors, which offset gains in select consumer and industrial names.
Among individual movers, pharmaceutical distributor Ste Promotion Pharmaceutique du Maghreb led gainers with a 5.97% rise to 1,296.00. Construction firm Involys added 3.06% to 132.95, while mining company Zellidja S.A gained 3.00% to 319.80.
On the downside, building materials producer Rebab Company fell 4.76% to 100.00, while packaging manufacturer Fenie Brossette declined 3.23% to 392.00. Retailer Atlanta shed 3.01% to 124.15.
Elsewhere, oil and gold futures declined. October crude oil futures fell 0.69% to $82.95 per barrel, while November Brent crude dropped 0.51% to $88.07. December gold futures slipped 0.87% to $4,623.50 per troy ounce.
The U.S. dollar index rose 0.35% to 99.44, while the euro traded flat at 10.76 against the Moroccan dirham. The U.S. dollar strengthened 0.30% to 9.28 per Moroccan dirham.
