Moroccan equities finished modestly higher on Thursday, with sector gains in Banking, Beverage and Transport supporting a small overall uptick. At the close in Casablanca, the Moroccan All Shares index ended the session up 0.26%.
Among individual issues, Afric Industries Sa (CSE:AFI) led advancers, finishing 3.56% higher - a rise of 12.00 points to close at 349.00. Cartier Saada (CSE:CRS) added 2.50% or 0.78 points to reach 31.98 at the close, while Marocaine Ste de Therapeutique SA (CSE:SOT) rose 2.34%, gaining 41.00 points to finish at 1,793.00.
On the downside, M2M Group (CSE:M2M) fell 5.32%, a decline of 24.00 points to 427.00 and moved to a 52-week low. Stokvis Nord Afrique (CSE:SNA) declined 3.64% or 3.37 points, closing at 89.33, and Jet Contractors (CSE:JET) was down 3.55% or 97.00 points to finish at 2,633.00.
Decliners outnumbered advancers on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, with 33 stocks falling versus 18 that rose. Eight issues finished unchanged.
Commodities saw mixed gains during the session. Crude oil for April delivery traded higher by 2.12%, up 1.38 to $66.43 a barrel. Brent crude for April delivery gained 1.79% or 1.26 to $71.61 a barrel. Precious metals were also firmer as the April Gold Futures contract rose 0.30%, up 15.20 to trade at 5,024.70 a troy ounce.
Foreign exchange moves accompanied the equity and commodity action. The euro traded lower against the Moroccan dirham, with EUR/MAD down 0.17% to 10.79. The US dollar conversely strengthened versus the dirham, with USD/MAD rising 0.22% to 9.17. The US Dollar Index Futures were up 0.20% at 97.82.
The session's market profile combined modest index-level gains with a clear divergence among individual names. Banking, Beverage and Transport sectors provided upward momentum at the index level, while several mid- and small-cap names recorded notable losses. The presence of a new 52-week low for M2M Group underscores the uneven nature of the day's outcomes.
For investors and market watchers, the session reinforced that headline index moves can mask significant dispersion across listed companies and sectors. The documented commodity and FX shifts provided additional market context but did not alter the narrow nature of the index advance.