Casablanca bourse quiet for now
Morocco, Economics, 12/1/1997

Investors in Casablanca's bourse are watching for what is going on in other world bourses after indications showed that the collapse of the Asian bourses are effecting primary bourses.

Dealers on the Moroccan bourse stated that the local stock market is witnessing normal activities but fear continuing instability in share prices as a result of instability in Japan's stock market and other Asian countries, and its effects on the bourses of Europe and the flow of investments and capital on the primary stock markets.

The Casablanca bourse indicator lost a quarter of a point of its value during the last three days. It was between 662-663 for more than one month. Brokers said that the stability of the indicator shows that the dealers having a wait-and-see attitude. The daily trades were worth 250 million dirham ($30 million).

Most Moroccan banks witnessed a marginal decrease in the value of their shares. The Moroccan Foreign Trade Bank lost 1.2 % within two days. Analysts ruled out the possibility that this has to do with the shares owned by the Japanese group Nomora in the capital of the bank which amount to 10%.

The Bank of Morocco, a branch of the French Credit De Lionnes lost 3 points since the beginning of the week, while the Moroccan Commercial Bank maintained the value of its shares at about 900 dirhams per share.

Financial circles in Casablanca ruled out the possibility that a substantial change will occur in stock prices. The total amount of the transactions since the beginning of the current year is 118 billion dirhams. The Casablanca bourse is conducting tours of many Moroccan cities in order to urge the biggest family companies to list their companies on the bourse.

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