COMMERCIAL Review Of Week’s Stock Exchange Transactions

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28868, 13 April 1959, Page 16

COMMERCIAL Review Of Week’s Stock Exchange Transactions

[By Our Commercial Editor 1 The New Zealand stock exchanges opened after Easter last week with prices mostly unchanged. It was a fairly busy week, with turnovers well spread through the quotation list. A puzzling feature of the week’s trading was the lower demand for Government stock. Yields to maturity rose by more than Is per cent, on shortdated issues, compared with yields obtainable before Easter.

Long-dated issues did not weaken to the same extent, but rose to a point not far below the midFebruary peak of £4 18s per cent. The present state of the market cannot be comforting to the Government if it plans an early internal loan.

The British Budget, announced on Tuesday night, added one point to the “Financial Times” index of industrial ordinary shares the next day. Apparently the Budget

measures benefiting shareholders —mainly the reduction of 9d in the standard rate of tax —had been well anticipated by the sharemarket. More surprising was the easing of the market which followed the initial favourable reaction. A cabled message, printed today, attributes this drop to profittaking before the end of the account. This suggests that a considerable portion of the preBudget strength of the market was due to speculators who did not intend holding their purchases until settlement date. New Zealand holders of shares In London-domiciled companies—notably banks—must eventually benefit from last week’s Budget, which has added more than 6 per cent, to the amount of dividends subject to United Kingdom taxation. Rise in Wool Prices Share prices in New Zealand usually move in sympathy with wool prices. For this reason, last week’s sharp rise in wool prices was good news in Hereford street, as well as in Cashel street. To the extent that the rise had been anticipated—on the basis of expert forecasts since the beginning of the year—it will not add immediately to share values. However, the rise has been greater, if later, than even the most optimistic forecasts. Although it has come too late to add appreciably to the national wool cheque this season, it augurs well for the 1959-60 selling season, which will open in August. An increase of Id per lb adds more than £2m to the country’s wool cheque, so that last Monday’s increase of approximately 2d per lb is bound to have repercussions on the economy extending far beyond the farming community. Details of transactions on the Christchurch Stock Exchange last week, with figures for the last week before Easter in parenthesis, are as follows:—Government stock, £9200 (£8270): local body and company debentures and stock, £2OOO : (£11,700); bank. 659 (940); breweries, 2250 (600); frozen meat, 1276 (250); insurance. 650 (nil); loan and 1 agency, 1010 (160); shipping, 500 (150); woollens. 1500 (100); miscel- < laneous (Australian), 9707 (6790); < miscellaneous (N.Z.), 8181 (4850); i New Zealand mining, 500 (nil); unlisted. 1325 (300); total, 27,558 (14,140). Gilt-edged Yields Yields on Government stock sold in Christchurch during the week were as follows:—4J per cent., June, 1961, £4 19s 5d per cent., £4 18s 4d per cent., £4 18s 3d per cent.; 4*4 per cent., July, 1961, £4 17s lOd per cent.; 3 per cent., 1959-61, £4 12s lOd per cent.; 3J per cent., 1962. £4 18s lid per cent.; 3 per cent.. 1960-63. £4 16s 4d per cent.; 4% per cent.. 196263, £4 17s 2d per cent.; 3 per cent., 1961-64. £4 16s 3d per cent.; 4 per cent., 1965-66. £4 16s per cent.; 4g per cent., 1966-67, £4 15s lid per cent. DJ.C., preference (18s 6d) reappeared on the sales list. Forest Products, preference (17s 9d), were firmer

A.N.Z. Bank (425) and E.. S., and A. (28s 6d) reappeared on the sales

list. Bank of N.S.W. were steady in business at £3l ss. Ballins Breweries (30s 6d), Dominion Breweries (75s 6d), and New Zealand Breweries (355) all sold at lower prices.

Canterbury Frozen Meat (£24 15s) were easier. New Zealand Refrigerating were steady at 31s 6d. Insurance Shares New Zealand Insurance and South British Insurance both sold at lower prices than in the last recorded Christchurch business, but these prices were higher than had been paid in intervening business elsewhere. New Zealand Insurance changed hands at 735, before and after the dividend announcement, indicating that the market was anticipating a centenary bonus of the order of 5 per cent. South British sold at 73s 3d. 73s 4*2d, and 73s 6d.

I New Zealand Farmers’ Co-opera- , tive ordinary shares had first business this year, changing hands at 12s 3d. which is 9d below their low- ; est 1958 price. The first preference shares, at 13s, were unchanged. National Mortgage A (6s 9d) were steady. Northern Steamship, which sold In the North Island before Easter at Us sd, made a good gain to sell at 13s. Tekau (275) and the unlisted Kalapoi (255) were steady. Australian industrials, which were traded at better prices than before Easter were Ampol (18s Id). Broken Hill Proprietary (46s 3d and 46s 6d. after 465, unchanged) and Colonial Suear, Svdney register (£3B 15s and £39). 1.C.1., A.. N.Z. (52s and 51s 6d) were easier. Tecniro (32s 6d) and Clyde Industries (12s. after 12s Id) were steady. Ready Mixed Concrete (42s 9d) reappeared on the sales list. Australian Retailers Reid Murrav (10s 4d and 10s 2d), compared with 9s lid before Easter, made the best gain among the Australian retailers. Waltons (14s 4d) were steady. Coles (16s sd, 16s 4d. and 16s 3d, compared with 16s 4d before Easter), and Woolworths (16s 7d and 16s 6d) tended to ease during the week. Compared with pre-Easter business. Wattie Canneries (265), Forest Products (22s 4d. after 22s Id. unchanged), and New Zealand Paper Mills (355), made gains. Fletcher Holdings shares (30s 6d) and convertible debentures (255) were easier. William Cable (22s 6d), Andrews and Beaven (245), Consolidated Brick (17s 6d), and New Zealand Newspapers (425, after a sale 6d lower) were unchanged. Giant Industries (12s). Vibrapac (Otago) (21s). Cyclone (30s), and Mason. Struthers. £1 r>aid (21s), reappeared on tne sales list. . New Zealand retailers were inactive. Hays (21s) were down 6d and Woolworths, N.Z. (16s 9d), were steady. Waihi Mining, in first local business this year, changed hands at 7s Bd.

Matea Forests were fractionallv easier in sales at 3s Bd. C.O.P. (23s 6d) and Scales (7s) reappeared on the sales list.