(Ecofin Agency) - Casablanca Stock Exchange recorded MAD8.89 billion ($920 million) of transactions in the first quarter of this year. Year on year, this represents a 23% decrease.

Between January 1 and March 31, 2019, the equities exchanged in the central market dropped from MAD9.10 billion in Q1, 2018 to MAD5.06 billion in the quarter under review. Exchanges in the central market were thus 57% of the overall transactions recorded during the said quarter.

OTC transactions reached MAD3.82 billion or 43% of the overall transactions in the market during the quarter.

42% of the exchanges were made by Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities (UCITS) while local and foreign corporate bodies respectively made 28% and 18% of the exchanges. For local private persons, their contribution to these exchanges was 8%.

Let’s not that at end March 2019, the market capitalisation of the Casablanca stock exchange decreased by 14.97% year on year to MAD561.74 billion ($58.05 billion).