The local market was active this week, with the NSX Local index down 1.01% at 412, and the NSX Overall Index up 3.61% at 1348. As at 9 February, Namibia Breweries was the largest local company on the exchange, with market capitalization of N$ 6.2 billion, followed by FirstRand Namibia with N$ 6.1 billion, Capricorn Group with N$ 5.2 billion and Trustco Group with N$ 4.2 billion. Agra Ltd lead the market this week with growth of 1.18% to close at N$ 1.71 per share, with Capricorn Group in second place at N$ 10.10 per share after growth of 1%. In terms of volume FirstRand Namibia lead the market with N$ 1.5 million worth of shares traded, with Namibia Breweries in second place with N$ 1 million worth of shares traded. The local currency gained 0.46% against the US Dollar, to close at N$ 14.65 per USD, and lost 0.15% against the British Pound, to close at N$ 20.36 per GBP. It closed at N$ 17.74 against the Euro, a gain of 0.55%.
The Namibia Statistics Agency released the inflation figures for the month of January 2021, and revealed that annual inflation is now 2.7% compared to 2.1% the same time last year, having increased from the 2.4% recorded for December 2020. The growth in the price index was due to increases in the prices of communications (0.7% to 4.1%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (2.2% to 5.2%), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (2.6% to 5.0%), furnishings and household equipment (2.9% to 4.1%), recreation and culture (4.3% to 4.9%) and health costs (3.1% to 3.7%). Zone 1 (Otjozondjupa, Kunene, Oshana, Omusati, Oshikoto, Ohangwena, Kavango East, Kavango West and Zambezi) saw inflation of 1.7% compared to 2.3% last month, with Zone 2 (Khomas) seeing inflation of 3.2%, compared to 2.4% last month. Zone 3 (Omaheke, Hardap, Karas and Erongo) had inflation of 3.2%, compared to 2.3% last month.
