STOCKS AND SHARES

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 21, 25 January 1936, Page 12

STOCKS AND SHARES

THE WEEK'S TRADING

MARKET FAIRLY ACTIVE

"Evening Post," January 25. * Despite the fact that the Dominion's Stock Exchanges were closed on Wednesday a good volume of business was reported on the investment market during the week. Under the constitutional system under which Great Britain and the Dominions are governed a change of King does not have the unsettling effect that is sometimes brought about by a change in the elected Government and consequently the Empire's great loss during the week was neither expected to have, nor had, any influence on the exchanges of stocks and shares. Generally speaking, the markets continued to be quietly firm, although in some instances values barely remained at par. While investors await the announce- ' ment of the Labour Government s financial policy \ the inscribed stock market shows little change, though there continues to be plenty of inquiry. Buyers are still offering a few shillings above par for 4 per cents, maturing in 1940 and between £104 and £105 for those of more distant- date. Sales reported included the following:— 34 per cent. Stock (1938-52), £103 10s? 34. per cent. Stock (1939-52), £103 10s; Zk per cent. Stock (1939----43), £102 10s, £102 8s 9d; 4 per cent. Stock (1940). £100 10s, £100 5s £100 8s 9d, £100'10s, £100 7s 6d, and Bonds, £100 10s, £100 ss; 4 per cent. Stock (1946), £104 12s 6d, £104 ss, £104 11s 3d, £104 7s 6d, £104 12s 6d; 4 per cent. Stock (1949). £104 10s, and Bonds, £104 10s. £104 7s 6d; 4 per cent. Stock (1955), £105, £104 15s, £104 17s 6d, £105, £104 15s, £105, and Bonds, £104 15s, £105; 5 per cent. Rural Advance Bonds (1947), £103 ss. Rather more business than in recent weeks was done in local body and company debentures, though the market is still quiet. There were inquiries for 4i per cent. Wellington City, 1947 and 1948, at £106, and Makerua Drainage (4} per cent., 1959) were offered at £101 10s. Company debentures for which there was a demand included 64. per cent. Gisborne Sheepfarmers at £101 ss. The following sales were reported:— 4J per cent. Grey Valley Power Board (1944), £104; 4i per cent. Grey Valley Power Board (1945), £104; 4i per cent. Auckland Harbour Board (1957), £106 10s; 41 per ' cent. Auckland Harbour Board (1958), £106 10s; 4£ per cent. New Zealand Farmers' Co-op., Canterbury (1940), £92; 74 per cent. Amalgamated Brick, Wellington (1944), £100 15s. BANKS, INSURANCE, FINANCE. Bank shares were mostly in good' demand at improved prices, particularly Commercial of Australia, Commercial of- Sydney. English, Scottish, and Australian, and National of Australasia. Reserve Banks have yet to recover their pre-election level and New Zealands showed no change. Unions improved slightly. Sales in this section were:— Reserve Bank, £5 355; Bank of New Zealand. 47s Bd, 47s 6d, 47s 7d, 47s Bd, 47s sd, 47s 7d, 47s Gd, 47s Bd, 47s 6d. 47s 7d; and D Long-term, Sis 6d, 31s 3d; Bank of New South Wales. £33 15s 6'd (Sydney register) ; Commercial Bank of Australia (cum div.), 18s 6d, 18s 4d, 18s sd, 18s 7d, 18s 9d, 18s Bd, and (pref.), £9'lls; Commercial Banking Co. of Sydney, £18 17s, £19, £19 2s 6d; English, Scottish, and Australian Bank, £5 15s 9d, £6, £5 19s 6d, £6, £6 0s 9d, £6 Is 3d; Bank of Australasia, £12; National Bank of New Zealand. 71s 6d, 71s; National Bank of Australasia (£lO paid), £14 6s 6d; and (£5 paid), £7 Is 6d, £7 3s, £7 3s 6d, £7 2s 6d; Union Bank, ' £9 16s. With the Auckland v/00l sale on Tuesday displaying no marked tendency in either direction, the shares of stock and station companies showed little movement. Goldsbrough Morts sold on a rising market, but business was otherwise confined to a limited number. of transactions. Buyers of Mortgage Corporation shares weve noi prepared to offer more than 4s 6d and inquiries for Equitable Building shares did not come up to sellers' quotation of 15s 6d. Sales reported included:— Dalgety and Co., £8 11s. £8 10s 6d; Farmers' Auctioneering (A pref.) 22s 9d; Goldsbrough Mort. 335, 32s 6d. 33s 3d, 335. 33s Id, 33s 3d, 33s 6d; Mortgage Corporation, 4s lOd, 4s 8d; New Zealand Guarantee Corporation, ss, 5s Id; New Zealand Farmers' Co-op. (10s paid), 6d. There was considerable inquiry for insurance shares but a discrepancy existed between what buyers were prepared to offer and what sellers were willing to accept and sales were limited to the. following:— New Zealand Insurance, 61s 6d; Queensland, 555: Standard, 64s 6d; South British, 90s. INDUSTRIAL AND VARIOUS. Coal-mining shares continue to reveal little activity, the only transfer reported during the week being a parcel, of Westports. Offers of 15s lid and 15s 9d were made without response for Taupiris and investors possessing Other, coal shares displayed no inclination to part with their holdings. The sale reported was:— Westport Coal, 23s 3d. Gas shares were also strongly held, there being only one sale, in this division. Prospective buyers of Wellingtons would not offer beyond £2 arid there were no sellersl at that figure, whilst offers of £ 1 18s for Christchurcn and £5 2s 6d for Napier (contrib.) were similarly disregarded. Christchurch sellers wanted 3s more than was offering and Wellington piefs at £1 5s 3d and New Plymouths at £7 Is were also outside the buyers' limits. The following sale was reported:— . Auckland Gas. 26s lOd. 26s Cd. The announcement that the company would again be paying a dividend of 5-1 per cent, kept New Zealand Refrigerating firm and the generally healthy tone of the London frozen moat market is also encouraging to those interested in this industry- Gears also remained steady. Offers to buy Southlands at 75s met with no response. Sales reported were:— ■ Gear Meat. 225: New Zealand Re-j frigerafing f£l pd) cum div., 21s 10d,| 22?; and (10s pd.), 11s, 10s lid, 10s lOd. Brewery shares displayed a tendency to become more active as the week progressed. Buyers of Dominions offered 18s 2d and 19s (prof.), while sellers were prepared to do business at £2 14s for Tooth's, £1 11s 6d for Toohey's, and £2 3s 6d for Tuis. Sales reported included:— Dominion Breweries, 19s 3d; New Zealand Breweries, 535, 52s 9d; Staples, 35s 9d. Developments in the shipping world in recent months have scarcely tended to produce an air of settlement in the industry, and business in the shares of shipping companies is exceedingly restricted. There were no offers by either buyers or sellers on the Wellington Exchange and the only sales reported were:— j

P. and O. (deferred), 27s 9d (London

Reg.); Union Steam (pref.), 26s 6d.

There was considerable inquiry for timber shares. Kauris and LeylandO'Briens selling on a steady market, while 8s lid was offered for Taupo Totara and 6s 6d for Taringamutu. There *.vere unsuccessful offers to sell Taupo Totara (16s pref.), at par. Sales reported included: — Kauri Timber, 23s 6d, 23s lid, 23s 6d; Leyland-O'Brien, 22s 9d. Woollens also kept steady at late rates, quotations on the local exchange being confined to Prestige, N.Z., pref. Reported sales were:— Kaiapoi Wool (7s pd.), 5s 3d, 5s 2d; Mosgiel Woollen, £10 ss. MISCELLANEOUS. Business in the miscellaneous section was distributed over a wide range and the market generally was firm, the shares in the majority of cases closing at above late rates. The following were some of the reported sales:— Anthony Hordern, 21s 2d, 21s 4d, 21s 3d, 21s sd, 21s 6d, 21s Id, 21s; Australian Glass, 44s 6d; Australian Iron and Steel (pref.), 265. Broken Hill Pty., 595-, 58s 9d; and (5s paid), 29s 6d; British Tobacco, 40s 9d, 40s 6d, 40s 9d, 41s, 40s lOd; Bycroft, 53s 3d. Consolidated Brick, 10s 6d; Claude Neon, Syd., 57s 9d, 58s 3d, 58s; Colonial Sugar, £43 10s. Dunlop-Perdriau Rubber, 16s 6d, 16s 4d. Electrolytic Zinc (pref.), 39s 6d, 39s 3d. 39s 6d; and (ord.), 35s 9d. Farmers' Trading, 8s Id, 8s 2d, and (B pref.), 15s 6d; Farmers' Fertiliser, 20s Id, 20s l^d. G. J. Coles, 73s 9d, 73s lOd. 73s 6d, 735, 73s 9d, 73s 6d, 73s 3d, 735, 725; General Industries, 21s 6d, 21s 3d. Henry Jones, 38s 3d, 38s ljd; Hume Pipe (Aust.), 16s 6d, 16s 7d, 16s 3d. Milne and Choyce, stock, 16s; Milburn Lime and Cement. 44s 9d; Mount Lyell, 20s lOd, 20s 9d, 20s lOd, 20s lid, 21s. 21s 6d, 22s 4Jd, 21s, 21s Id. 21s 3d, 22s 6d. Northern Roller Mills, 335; New Zealand Paper Mills, 30s 3d, 30s sd, 30s 3d; New Zealand Drug, 81s 3d, 81s 9d, 80s IOJd, 80s 9d, 81s. Prestige, N.Z. (pref.), 21s. United Provisions, 14s 4d. Woolworths, N.Z. (ord.), £5 12s 6d: and (pre£). 38s 6d. Unlisted.—Christchurch "Press," £9 10s; N.Z. Woolpack, 15s Id; Smith, Wylie (Aust.), 10s; Southern Cross Invest., 3s; Woolworths, Syd., £6, £6 Is 6d. MINING. Buyers and sellers of a fairly wide variety of shares came forward in the mining section, but the Mount Morgan 2s 6d issue again practically monopolised the transactions, which were as follows: — Big River, Is lOd; Broken Hill South, £5 ss. Goldfields Dredging, 6d, s}d; Golden Dawn, 3s. King Solomon. 3s 6d. Mataki, 2s Id; Moonlight Goldfields, 8!d; Mount Morgan (2s 6d pd.), 18s 7d, 18s 6d. 18s sd, 18s 9d, 18s 4d, 18s 2d 18s 3d; Maori Gully, Is; Martha, ] 20s 6d. ] Nevis Diesel, Id, l£d. ! j Waihi Investments 14s 9d. Unlisted.—Argo Gold, Is 4d, Is 3Jd; New River (Is pd.), Bd.