MASI Plunges Amid Oil Market Turmoil
Morocco's benchmark MASI index closed at 16,855.82 points on Friday, March 13, 2026, registering a significant decline of -1.76% for the session and an annual underperformance of -10.56%. This red session occurred amid intense volatility in global commodity markets, with Brent Crude reaching $103.72/barrel (+3.2% daily, +4.8% weekly) before retreating slightly. Geopolitical tensions surrounding the Iran conflict continue to shake global markets, particularly impacting energy-importing economies like Morocco.
Market Context: Deteriorating Breadth
The session was marked by particularly unfavorable market breadth with only 12 advancing stocks against 47 decliners and 6 unchanged. All sector indices suffered:
- •MASI 20: -1.85% to 1,285.71 points (YTD: -13.46%)
- •MASI Mid and Small Cap: -1.61% to 1,708.14 points (YTD: -7.24%)
- •MASI ESG: -1.59% to 1,161.6 points (YTD: -7.19%)
The depreciation of the dirham against major currencies intensified pressure on importers, with EUR/MAD at 10.779 (+2.51%) and USD/MAD at 9.4383 (+0.84%).
Lesieur Cristal Resists Thanks to Commodity Surge
In a sharply declining market, Lesieur Cristal (LES) delivered a remarkable performance with to 369.0 MAD. This resilience is explained by rising agricultural commodity prices, directly benefiting the edible oil specialist. also benefited from this dynamic with to 25.2 MAD, while advanced to 2,175.0 MAD following the announcement of the merger-absorption of Allianz Maroc.
