Review Of Year By Exchange Chairman

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31727, 10 July 1968, Page 17

Review Of Year By Exchange Chairman

(N.Z. Pres* Association— Copyright) SYDNEY, July 9. The chairman of the Sydney Stock Exchange, Ltd (Mr James Cooper), has warned that the present boom on the sharemarket, largely caused by unprecedented interest in the minerals sector, could suddenly tumble downwards.

Mr Cooper said he was not a prophet of doom but it was an unfortunate fact that peaks in market activity were followed by downturns. The financial year just ended had been a record for the Sydney Stock Exchange in just about every possible way, Mr Cooper said. He said that the upsurge in activity was in large part because of the extent to which Australia's mineral prospects had captured the Imagination of the public.

Turn-over in terms of the number of shares traded more than doubled to 586 m compared with the previous year while the value more than trebled to sB63m. He said a propping element in the form of portfolio investment particularly from the United Kingdom had influenced the market Self-Confidence Lacking “Just how potentially volatile this money is cannot be assessed and we should, from past experience, be careful not to rely upon it too much in long-term calculations,’’ Mr Cooper said. suggested that they should make more decisions independent of those taken by overseas Investors. Viet Laundry Div. 15 p.c. Victory Laundry Company, Ltd, Petone, has maintained its dividend at 15 per cent for the latest year, directors say in a preliminary report The accounts for the year to May 31 show an improvement over those for the previous year, they say.

Wall Street Buoyant (N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) NEW YORK, July 8. The stock market moved into a sizzling rally that forced the tape six minutes behind the pace of floor trading. Gains outnumbered declining Issues by better than three to one, and volume was about 5,700,000 shares after a little more than one hour. The New York Stock Exchange industrial index rose .64 to 60.26.