The local market was active this week, with the NSX Local index up 0.02% at 515, and the NSX Overall Index down 0.11% at 1054. As at 7 July, FirstRand Namibia was the largest local company on the exchange, with market capitalization of N$ 8.5 billion, followed by Namibia Breweries with N$ 7.24 billion, Capricorn Group with N$ 7.23 billion, and Trustco Group with N$ 6.7 billion. Trustco Group lead the market this week with growth of 14.75% to close at N$4.20 per share, with Standard Bank Namibia Holdings in second place with growth of 0.13% to close at N$ 7.50 per share. In terms of volume Namibia Breweries lead the market with N$ 533 thousand worth of shares traded, with FirstRand Namibia in second place with N$ 327 thousand worth of shares traded. The local currency gained 0.89% against the US Dollar, to close at N$ 17.17 per USD, and lost 0.23% against the British Pound, to close at N$ 21.54 per GBP. It closed at N$ 19.36 against the Euro, a gain of 0.55%.
The Bank of Namibia released its Money and Banking Statistics for May 2020, and revealed that growth in private sector credit extension dropped during the month, standing at 2.2%, a 1.5% decrease from the previous month. The lower growth was due to decreased borrowings from corporates during the month, with household debt increasing by 5.2% for the month, down from 5.7% in April, and corporates contracting by 1.7%, down from 1.1% growth in May. Overdraft credit contracted by 5%, further down from the 1.8% contraction during May, while personal loans and credit cards saw an increase of 9.7%, decreasing from the 11.6% in May. Instalment credit declined by a further 0.8%, recording a contraction of 8.3%, with mortgage loans moderating to 2.8%, down by 1.1% from the previous month.
