COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 98, 25 April 1908, Page 4

COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL.

♦ — BANK OF ENGLAND RETURNS. By Telegraph.— Preas Association.— Copyright, LONDON, 24th April. The Bank of England return issued for the week ending Wednesday, 22nd April, is as under : — , Issue Department. Note issue. £54,053,000 Got. debt £11,015,000 Other securities . ... 7,434.000 • Gold, „. 35,606,000 £54,055,000 £54,055,000 Basking Defabtitent. Pr'priet'rs' Got. secarienpitad £14,553,000 lies ... £13,560,000 Public de- Other seposits ... 10,567,000_ carities... 30,211,000 Other ae. Notes ... 25,513,000 posits... 42,763,000 Coin ... 1.566.000 Best, 7-day oiid other bills ... ■ 3,267,000 £70i950,000 £70,850,000 The leading items of the Bank of England return afford the following comparison: — This week. Last week. Last year. £ £ £ Billion... 35,606,000, 36,344,000 35,019,000 Reserve... 26,879,000 26,114.000 25,905,000 Note cir'n 28,542,000 29,137,000 29,737,000 Deposits 53,130,000 52,084,000 57,063,000 Proportion reserve to liabilities 50.52 50.06 45.32 GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. lino following are the latest quotations for Government securities, with a comparison of those ruling last week: —

THE MONEY MARKET. The opan market discount rate for best three months' bills is Is 3d lower at £2 12a 6d psr cent. The Bank of England rate is 3 per cent., being the same as at date of last report. The Paris open market rate is £2 16s 9d per cent., and the Berlin rate £4 2s 6d. COLONIAL AND OTHER PRODUCE. In the wheat nrarkets there is a better inquiry. A general advance of Is per quarter. The impression is that the worst is now over. ' Cargoes are firm. Off coast cargoes are held for 36s 3d. Australian on spot is in small supply, quoted at 38s to 38s 6d. Flour 13 slightly firmer. Afloat lots are offering at Glasgow at 27s 6d. Butter '3 firm, colonial clearing well. Choicest Australian, 106s to 108s; New Zealand and Danish, llOa to 112s. Cold weather is checking European supplies. Sugar.— German, Us lid por cwt.; first marks, 13s 6d. THE METAL MARKETS. Coppor, on spot, £58 per ton; three months, £58 10s. Tin, spot, £145 per ton; three months, £143. Lead, ±113 ba. Spelter, £21 4s. Iron, 513 6d per ton. WOOL. In the Bradford wpol market there is slightly more inqniry, but little business. Forties, B£d; forty-sixes, 10£ d; common sixties, 21d; super, 22d. (Received April 25, 9.30 a.m.) I LONDON, 24th April. | At the kauri auctions 559 cases 'were offorod, partly damaged, of which .247 wore sold. For sound parcels pricos were unchanged. CHRISTCHURCH GRAIN MARKET. CHRISTCHURCH, 24th April. There ia scarcely any grain offering, and few holders are willing to sell except at their own values. No sales of either wheat or oats are recorded. There" is a fair amount of chaff on offor, and prices are firmer, though late buyers at £4 are now offering £3 17s 6d. ' Potato-growers are selling their crops somowhat freely, instead of pitting, and sales are being made at* £3 10s for early varieties, and at £3 15s for Derwents and Up-to-dates. DALGETY'S REPORT. Dalgety and Company, Limited, Wellington, havo received the following cable messages from their London house, under date 23rd instant:— Butter— Market firm. The Copenhagen official quotation is unchanged. The total import* of butter into the United States for the-, week ending 18th instant amounted to 94,000cwt, as compared with 80,000cwt for the corresponding week of ISJO7, showing an increase of 14,000cwt. Frozen meat^-Thero is a fair demand for all descriptions. Since our last advices prices for mutton and lamb are id per lb lower. Beef — Hindquarters, id per lb lower. Prices for forequartera of beef are id per lb higher. Hemp. — Wo quote present value of good fair at £27 per ton. (The last quotation, on lOtb April, was £25 10s to £25 153.) THE WELLINGTON WOOL, IIIDE, AND SKIN SALES. Tho soiling brokers (Dalgoty and Co., Ld., Levin and Co., Ld., Murray, Roberts and Co., Ld., Loan and Mercantile, Ld., Abraham' and Williams, Ld.), report that they hold their usual fortnightly salo of tho abovo yesterday. There was a large muster of buyers, and pricos for hides and skins showed a Bomowhat firmer tendency. Wool was steady at last sale rates. Quotations:— Wool. — Medium crossbred, 3£d to 5d per lb ; inferior crossbred, 2d to 4d ; lambs wool, 4d to sid; piece's, 2d to 3d; locks, ld to 2d. Sheepskins.— Fina crossbrods, 5d to 52d per lb ; medium crossbred, 4cl to 42d ; lambs, 4d to 53d; dead nkins, 3d to 3|d; dead hoggets, 24d to 3Jd; dry polls, 2d to 2?d: grcon pelts, 2s to 2s 8d oach; grcon lambs, 2s to 2s 8d; grcon lambs pelts, Is to Is 7d. Hides.— Ox hides (heavy), sid to 6g por lb; ox hide 1 ) (medium), 4jd to 6Jd ; ox hides (light), '6^d to sd; cow hides. 3Jd to 4id; cut / *id bUddy hidos, 2d to 3Jdj $JSUt

hides, 2id to 3id; bull hides, 2d to 3d; calf (best), 4d to sgd; calf (cut and slippy), 2d to 3d. Tallow. — Parcels in shipping order, £24 por ton; tins, £15 to £21; rough fat, £13 to £16 ss. Horso Hair. — Is to Is 3d per lb; horns, 5s to 17s 6d per hundred ; cowrails, Is 6d to Is 8d por dozen.

Price, Variations compared with last week. ' li% Imperial Consols I * New South Wales ... U% New South Wales ... ! % New South Wales ... I % Victorian. SJ% Victorian i % Victorian IJ% South Auatraliiiu ... I % South Australian ... I % Queensland fy% Queensland ! % Queensland ... ... I % Now Zealand* n% New Zealandf ! % New Ze&lnndf !4% Westrahun > % Weßttalian i\% Tasmanian I % Tasmanian £ s. d. 86 15 0 109 15 0 99 5 0 88 10 0 101 15 0 100 10 0 SO 10 0 100 0 0 87 0 0 107 0 0 IUO 0 0 69 10 0 106 10 0 IUO 5 0 S8 10 0 93 0 0 WOO 99 15 0 89 0 0 7/6 lower Unchanged 5/- lower Unchanged 5/- ui&her Unchanged Unchanged Unchanged Unchanged Unchauged Unchanged Unchanged Unchanged Unchanged Uucba.n»ed Unchanged Uachauged Uncbauged Unchanged • Interest payable in May and No t Interest payable ia January and t Interest payable ia April and 0< r ember. July. stober.