The local market stayed relatively quiet this week, with the NSX Local index down 1.13% at 439, and the NSX Overall Index down 0.17% at 1359. As at 13 April, Capricorn Group was the largest local company on the exchange, with market capitalization of N$ 6.8 billion, followed by FirstRand Namibia with N$ 6.5 billion, Namibia Breweries with N$ 6.4 billion and Trustco Group with N$ 4.0 billion. Oryx Properties lead the market this week with growth of 4.17% to close at N$ 12.50 per share, with FirstRand Namibia in second place at N$ 24.20 per share after growth of 2.89%. In terms of volume Oryx Properties again lead the market with N$ 550 thousand worth of shares traded, with FirstRand Namibia second place with N$ 153 thousand worth of shares traded. The local currency gained 0.1% against the US Dollar, to close at N$ 14.50 per USD, and gained 0.7% against the British Pound, to close at N$ 19.93 per GBP. It closed at N$ 17.32 against the Euro, a loss of 0.5%.
The Namibia Statistics Agency released the Trade Statistics Bulletin for February 2021, and revealed that trade during the month was lower by 18.4%, with N$ 13.9 billion in trade compared to N$ 17.1 billion in January 2021. This is also lower than the N$ 14.1 billion recorded in February 2021. Exports reduced by 24.6% to N$ 5.7 billion from N$ 7.6 billion in January, with imports dropping by 13.4% to N$ 8.2 billion from the N$ 9.5 billion in January. As a result, the country recorded a trade deficit of N$ 2.4 billion, widening from the N$ 1.8 billion deficit recorded in January. China was Namibia’s largest export market (28%), while South Africa was Namibia’s largest import market (40.8%). Most export goods left via seaports (55.9%), while 78.53 of imports were done via road.
