N.Z. Exchanges May Open Week Earlier

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32166, 9 December 1969, Page 24

N.Z. Exchanges May Open Week Earlier

Members of the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch stock exchanges are reconsidering opening the exchanges on January 5, a week earlier than planned.

The main factor behind the present moves in this long-standing issue is the likelihood of a demand by investors for a market in which to trade oil shares if there is a significant find in the Maui No. 2 well this month.

The exchanges have been considering shorter holidays for some time, but at the last conference of the Stock Exchange Association of New Zealand, in Auckland, delegates stood out against a proposal to open earlier. Now a Wellington move to open on January 5 has found strong sympathy in Auckland (although small sharebroking firms remain opposed to it) and there is a possibility that Christchurch will open then.

Auckland members will meet in the next few days to discuss the Wellington suggestion. The chairman of the Christchurch exchange (Mr W. Somers Cox) said last evening that his members had always been in favour of shorter holidays. The matter had been discussed for some time.

Most city broking firms open on January 5 anyway, to handle Australian business and one large broker plans to open on January 2 this year. , Telephone Sales Mr Somers Cox said that even if there were no call until January 12 business could be done by telephone between brokers’ offices. He agreed with a recent statement by the Wellington chairman (Mr E. W. Hindle) that the decision should be -made by each exchange separately, but he said that there would be less advantage if only one exchange were open. “But if Wellington and Christchurch were open much business could be done, even with Auckland closed,” he said.

The question of reporting was still being considered, and would depend on the availability of staff. Settlements would probably be postponed, but there was “a good possibility” that Christchurch would be open.

Mr Hindle said at the weekend that his exchange intended to reopen on January 5 if it was found a demand for a market existed. “What would happen if there were a report from Maui No. 2,” he asked. Some Auckland brokers said yesterday that the decision had in the past always been taken by the joint stock exchanges, but many welcomed the move because it might lead to acceptance of shorter holiday periods, the Press Association reports. Permanent Change Although the move is precipitated this year by the current interest in oil shares, it is unlikely that a change now would be reversed in future years.

In Wellington, where small broking firms are fewer, there has been a strong feeling for several years that holidays should be short. In other centres, this move has been opposed by the smaller brokers, who see difficulties in staffing their offices. Some of the opponents doubt whether the investing public would be interested in using facilities for share trading during the holidays if they existed. Other brokers are quite enthusiastic, however. They feel a market should always be offered—if only because anything can happen. The official holiday period is December 24 to January 12. Sydney Ballot Members of the Sydney Stock Exchange are conducting a ballot to decide how long the exchange will be closed during the ChristmasNew Year period, the “Sydney Morning Herald” said

yesterday. They have been asked to indicate whether they favour

the exchange remaining closed between Christinas and New Year, to reopen on January 2. In previous years the Sydney exchange has been closed only for the three statutory holidays in the Christmas season. The effective difference involved is three trading days. The suggested departure from precedent this year has the paradoxical aspect that it is being prompted by the fact that the exchange’s facilities are more in demand by members of the public than in any previous year, essentially for the speculative nickel boom.

Confirmed holiday arrangements for other Australian stock exchanges are.—Adelaide, closed December 24 to January 5; Brisbane; closed from midday December 24 to December 29 and from midday December 31 to January 2; Melbourne, closed December 25 to December 29 and on January 1 and 2.