WEAKNESS IN MARKETS

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 30 May 1932, Page 7

WEAKNESS IN MARKETS

TREND IN GREAT BRITAIN , UNCERTAINTY OF FUTURE MARKING DOWN OF PRICES REFLEX OF WORLD VALUES (United Press Association —By Electric Telegraph Copyright.) i Received IQ a.m. to-dav. LONDON, May 28. The strong position -on the Stock Exchange mentioned a fortnight ago unfortunately lias not been maintained, j for this week’s succession of untoward; events has- caused a weakness all round i and the markets- closed yesterday in a' state of doubt and uncertainty regard-: ing the future. ! Among the factors, contributing toj this state of depression are rumours of an emergency Budget, with the possibilities of fresh taxation, the announcement that Britain intends paying the war debt to the United States in full, and adverse rumours, since denied, about certain Canadian financial institutions and Austria’s debts, which is 1 regarded as an indication that the whole : of Central" Europe is drifting to an > economic chaos. ! In the face of all these depressing! influences -prices generally were marked I down, especially industrial and foreign! bonds, and even gilt edgeds Iliad a set-! back, though this was mainly due to) heavy profit taking which commenced I as soon as the rumours of the emerg-| ency Budget were current. In this' state of affairs it is satisfactory thatthe Australian Government stocks are maintaining tlieir recent recovery and any occasional slight relapses are due to profit taking, for which there have been ample opportunities, as many of these are now quoted from £lO to £ls higher than in the third week of April. The brightest spot on the Stock Exchange now is the market- for West Australian gold mining shares. These have- been in strong demand, many buying orders coming from Australia. Although supplies of Australian and New Zealand apples on the London market have been very large, prices have not given way to any great extent, but some anxiety is expressed regarding' the next fortnight, when over a million cases are due to arrive, and it will be- surprising if values are main-] ta-ined. Fortunately the cold weather! has retarded the growth of soft fruits I and there a,re not likely to be many I strawfberrie-s available just yet-. The Hamburg market has- been hardly so good as importers h-o-ped for Australian I apples. The “Economist’s” review of the trade position is somewhat- pessimistic. A writer points out that at the. moment British industry is experiencing the same seasonal lull as it used to experience every May during the years relative to prosperity that ended in 1929. “The question is liow far this setback can legitimately be regarded as seasonal,” he continues. “Taking a broad view of the position at home andi abroad, it is perhaps tiue to -say that British trade and industry, on the balance, have held their owia since the suspension of the gold standard. They have not, however, recovered any ground previously lost, and it must also be admitted that abroad the situation seriously deteriorated during the same period and is still rapidly deteriorating. “Thus the question is how long will British industry be able to avoid being dragged down by a steadily declining trend of world activity, f-or unless the trend of events abroad is rapidly reversed the home trade will not be able to hold out for long. It is by no means certain that to-day’s lull is not the beginning -of a major recession.”