STOCK EXCHANGE

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 1 September 1924, Page 5

STOCK EXCHANGE

A CONFIDENT TONE

WOOL SUPPLIES SHORT. MERINOS ADVANCE 10 PER CENT. SHORTAGE OF. HORS. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COP t RIGHT. Received Sept. 1, 8.5 a.m. . LONDON, Aug. 30. Business on the Stock Exchange remains small, but a fairly confident tone is maintained. News of the Reichstag’s acceptance - of the Dawes proposals came too late to have much effect, but for- several days past there has been a general expectation' that Germany would accept, and this led to considerable purchases of German "find Prussian bonds. -There -has been, little change in gilt-edged securities, though the dearness of money has caused a monetary weakness of funds. The Government will disburse : aboufc £20,000,000 in interest next Monday', so the conditions , should be ' much easier. The conversion loan continues to improve, and colonial'stocks are firm all round. It is.’, stated : that since the close of last London wool- sales liberal purchases of merinos have been made at a 10 per cent advance- oil prices then ruling. Commenting on this an expert, writing in a Bradford newspaper, says it is largely due to a desire to ..secure; supplies-, before..-the,-sea-son opens in Australia, and more particularly before the_ next. _ series . in. London, where it is Expected the dffef-f iligs will total -between andT ' 150,000 bales. . The chief consideration lying behind the recent' "advance fd depletion of the visible supplies'. : of wool in .-the west, riding. Itj-ia aio exaggeration to say that .tjhe Majority of top makers have not only , sqld up to the limit of the stocks in- hand; but beyond. They therefore will be .dependent upon wool bought in London in September or upqn: early -arrivals from Australia for the* fulfilment of present commitments. , This applies more to merinOs than erossbreds/ but there are cases in which crossbred supplies are almost exhausted. The writer adds that it seems certain that the United States will shortly become a much more important factor in the overseas wool markets, mio development, following the adoption of the Dawes report must mean a greater demand for-wool. These factors clearly point. to the maintenance of values on a relatively high plane. Obviously there cannot be the same amount of wool available that there has been in recent years, when the current production was generously supplemented by accumulations in the hands of 8.A.W.R.A..

According to . the report of a leading hop growing firm 26,110 acres are under hops in England,' and are expected to. yield 330,000 cwt. Our. annual requirements .are estimated at 500,0Q0cwt, and the suggestion is made that in order to induce growers to'increase their acreage sufficiently, to supply all requirements the Government should be asked to impose a duty of 100 s per cwt on' American and Continental hops. English growers could then get a. remunerative ;price, and Would, not bo ruined, .by:. foreign hops dumped on the market. Growers point out that when the Defence of the Realm Act compelled then! to grub.up. half _ their hopfields the acreage was 31,352, and the cost of replacing these hop. gardens is at least , threefold , what it Was before the war. ,' !

Win® Trade.—The ■ newspapers are giving much prominence, to -.Empire wines, and one of them points- out that" .foreigners visiting Wembley have been greatly struck by the growth of the Empire wine trade. Visitors; representing French, Italian, and Spanish, wine interests admit " that the Dominions have succeeded in making first-rate imitations of the centuries-, old products of Bordeaux, Burgundy, ? Oporto and Tokay,: .These' critics recognise the presence in the Empire samples of the primary qualities of . the best European >vines, but. declare that' the more delicate qualities are nonexistent. This is due to the fact that virgin soil cannot possibly yield fruit like the old t vineyards which have been fertilised for centuries. Therefore for a long time ■' the: Australian vineyards, must be able to compete in ■/ quality with the produce of "older vineyards, but the consider that, as the ordinary consumer never tastes the best French w r ines, the. Australian wine trade is likely to increase in Great' Britain, especially as. the Australians have a popular system of- advertising!- v