COMMERCIAL

Evening Star, Issue 17544, 27 December 1920, Page 3

COMMERCIAL

MONEY AND MARKETS. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, December 23. The following are the latest quotations for Government securities :—2j per cent.' Imp. Con,, £44 2s 6d; 6 per cent. Imp. War Loan, £BB ss; 3£ per cent. Imp. War Loan, £B2 10s; 6| per cent. Commonwealth Loan. £96 2s 6d ; per cent. Commonwealth Loan, £93 17s 6d; New South Wales 4’s, 1938, Januarv-July, £73; New South Wales 3J,’s, 1935-50,. April-January-July, £63; New South Wales 3’s, 1935, April-October, £59; 5i per cent. Commonwealth Loan, £93 175.; New South Wales 6jr’s, £lOl 2s 6(1 ; Victorian 1921-26. January-July, £B2 5s ; Victorian Sjis, 1929-40, January-July, £55; Victorian s’s, 1929-49, January-July, £6l 15s; Queensland 4’s. 1924, January-July, £B4; Queensland £97; Queensland 3’s ,1922-47, JanuarvJuly, £4B; New Zealand 4’s, 1929, MavNovember, £B2; New Zealand 3“, 1940, January-July, £66; New* Zealand 3’s 1945, April-October, £57: South Australian _3i’s, 1916 or after, £66 ss; South Australian 3’s, 1950, January-Julv, £4B 10».; Tamsaninn July. £65; Tasmanian 3’s. 1920-40, Janu-ary-July, £6O; West Australian 3jj’s, 192035, May-November, £6B 15s; West Australian 3s, t 1915-55. May-November - , £66 12s 6d. New South Wales new scrip is quoted at 30s discount. The Bank of England returns for the week ended December 33 are as follow Com and bullion. £125,974,000; reserve, £11.629,000; proportion of reserve to liabilities, per cent., 7.76; Note circulation, £134.582,000; Government deposits £13,770,000; other deposits. £135.031,000 • Government securities, £77.178,000; other securities, £78,914,000. Short loans, Si per cent.; three months’ bills, 5 % per rm’ift^ onso ' s ’ £45 ss. War loans, £B3, £Bl 10s. The foreign exchange rates on London snord the following comparisons:— „ . , Dee. 21. Dec. 23. Ban_ s (fr) ... 59.30 59.67 Christiania (kr) 23.53 23.07 Stockholm (kr) 17 33 17 qi Calcutta (rup) 16|d 17“ Montreal (dol) 4.13 419 New York (dol) ... ... 3.39 3.54 Yokohama (yen) 33g 35 In wheat and other cereals there is a holiday market, and little offering. Prices are nominally unchanged. Sugar is unchanged. At Bradford the wool business is small and the tone is improving. The prices of mennoes are hardening. Cotton.—Liverpool quotation, American middling upland, January delivery, 9.97 d. Rubber.—Fine hard Para, Is Id lbplantation first latex crepe, 101 d ; smoked ribbed sheet, 9“. Jute.— December-January shipment, £3B. Hemp. “-Quiet. Decomber-February shin meut. £52. 1 Copra. South Sea, bagged, DecemberFebruary shipment, £37 15s. Linseed oil, £39—equal to 3s 6id a callon. ' b Turpentine, lOOs—equal to 7s 63d a gallon.—A. and N.Z. Cable. NEW COMPANIES REGISTERED. The Mercantile Gazette ’ announces registration of the following new companies in Otago -. Dreaver s, Ltd, Registered as a private . December 2, 1920. Capital £II,OOO, into 11,000 shares of £1 erd/ bubsenbers: Dunedin-E. C. Dreaver 8.000, J. R. Dreaver 1,000, C. H. Lees 1.000, H. C. Dreaver 1,000. Objects: To acquire the goodwill and take over as a going concern the business carried on recently in Dunedin and elsewhere in Yew Zealand by and under the style of Mrs Dreaver. Kelso Co-operative Dairy Factory ComP n ". y ’ Ttd. Registered December 2, 1920 Kels °- Ca P ital , £2.000, into 2.000 shares of £1 each. Subscribers : ?\? lui } ro , 140 ’ Peter Donald lo°’,£?u ert Marshal! 72- James P- Stock 68, V ilham Stewart 80, Edward W. Duff 40, Thomas Jenkins 60. Objects: To huv manufacture, produce, prepare for market! sell, export, and deal in milk, cream, butter and cheese, ham, bacon, pork, and all other products which can be derived trom or made out of cows or pigs. LONDON WOOL SALES. The Bank of New Zealand has received the following advice from its London office under date 17th inst. :— ** The sales have closed weak, and withdrawals are heavy. I rices for practically all descriptions are unchanged compared with the opening of this series. Medium coarse are unsaleable in the present state of the market Cross-bred coarse, lOd; medium, lid to Is Id; fine. Is 4d to Is 6d ; half-bred. Is bci to 2s; merino, inferior, Is 5d to Is 7d ■ superior, 2s to 2s 4d.”

BRITISH INDUSTRIES. THE WEEK REVIEWED. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright, ti ot LONDON, December 25. ino Stock Exchange has passed through a pen°d of depression, with considerable amount of forced liquidation. The failure of Farrow’s Bank revived unpleasant rumors about somewhat similar institutions, and renewed sellings in the consols and war Joans market was attributed forced realisations ou their account the depression is aiso due to the absence o: any “bullish” factors likely to revive speculative interest. Some fear is expressed that even the soundest undertakings may be troubled by severe deflation of commodity and stock market values. Industrial shares have been weak, especially rubbers, which are demoralised owing to a- decline in the raw material, but the block Exchange closed for the holidays with a slightly better tone. There is not much business passing, but the cessation of liquidations during’ the last day or two caused gilt-edged stocks to take a turn for the better. Industrials also showed a. generally firmer tendency One satisfactory feature is a general movement in the foreign exchange rates in our favor. . wool trade is very dull, but there is an impression in some quarters that there will be a revival after the turn of the year. Inquiries are being made on behalf of Russia for khaki yarns and cloth, especially for greatcoats, "for prompt delivery. Hie quantity is not large, and does not affect prices,* but it is regarded as a satisfactory symptom. Meanwhile practically all the mills in the West Riding of Yorkshire are taking a week’s holiday. There is little business in prospect, and the short time working will become still shorter. Butter prices continue steadily downward. The Food Ministry is now purchasing Danish butter at 2265, f.o.b. — a decline of 10s compared with the previous rate. The Ministry announces that it will cease buying any butter after March 31, when the Australian and New Zealand contracts will terminate. Thence-forward private importation from all sources will ■ be permissibly. The weakness in metals has been very pronounced. The set-back in electrolytic copper was duo to continued lack of demand. and unsatisfactory American advices. Contrary to the general hope, the fixing of prices for Straits tin had little effect on the market. . The demand for the United States and the Continent alike is slack, making the immediate future unpromising, and the bad financial and industrial outlook causes an expectation of further weakness in- spelter. Thd Belgians are refusing to sell at the present level, and German prices also are above the London parity. An acute depression prevails in the cotton trade. Business is very limited, and despite the reduced output, stocks of both yarn and cloth, are increasing. The financial situation is strained. Rumors of trouble in Manchester caused considerable uneasiness. Freights continue to decline, and the tonnage available is far in excess of the demand. A number of British and Scandinavian pwners are laying up boats

owing to the exorbitant price of bunker coal, and many more will follow unless the price is reduced. No fixtures for Australian wheat are reported, although all positions till April are obtainable for 90s a ton, and prompt charters are even cheaper.__A. and N.Z. Cable.