‘Black Thursday’ on NSX

Jo-Maré Duddy – Stock prices of the heavyweights on the Local Index of the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) today plummeted, causing the total market capitalisation of the index to fall by nearly N$6.5 billion in a single day.
FirstRand Namibia, with FNB Namibia as its flagship, was hit worst. The group’s share price tumbled by N$10.85 a piece or about 35% to N$20.15.
In the process, FirstRand Namibia shed N$2.9 billion of its market capitalisation by total shares in issue.
Namibia Breweries’ closing price was N$8.60 or 24.9% lower at N$25.90 per share. Its total market capitalisation shrunk by nearly N$1.8 billion.
Capricorn – owner of, among others, Bank Windhoek – ended on N$10.50 per share, a drop of N$3.49 or 24.9% compared to Wednesday. Its total market capitalisation too fell by about N$1.8 billion.
Romé Mostert of Cirrus Securities attributed the “blood bath” on the Local Index to the withdrawal of international funds from emerging markets.
“This leads to the selling of shares in emerging markets, including Namibia,” Mostert said.
“We are of the opinion that the investment climate in Namibia is weak, given the ongoing economic recession and investor-unfriendly policy decisions like tax and NEEEF [National Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework]. This leads to low investor confidence and the outflow of capital,” he said.
The Local Index of the NSX this afternoon closed at 408.02 points, 19.85% down from Wednesday.
The Overall Index of the NSX, on the other hand, gained 0.54% and ended on 1 104.53 points.
The JSE All Share Index shed 0.39% and closed at 55 729.50 points.
The term Black Thursday refers to 24 October 1929, when panicked investors sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging 11% at the open in very heavy volume, according to Investopedia.
Black Thursday began the Wall Street crash of 1929, which lasted until 29 October 1929.