TRADE AND FINANCE

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 276, 26 October 1925, Page 7

TRADE AND FINANCE

EXPANSION OF BUSINESS. GENERAL OUTLOOK BETTER. (By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.l Received October 26, 8.5 a.m. LONDON, Oct. 24. There lias been a general expansion of business* on tho Stock Exchange, for though the boom in rubber shares has subsided, business in many departments i.s active.

The happy issue of the Locarno negotiations has served to strengthen tho public confidence in the general outlook, and the improved reports on tho condition of several staple industries have caused a demand for commercial and industrial securities. Rumours of - the impending heavy withdrawals of gold for New York and tho consequent possibility of an advance in the bank rate caused some disturbance in gilt-edged shares, but the market recovered when it was learnt that the exports were under two millions, which was about one-third of the amount anticipated, and the New York exchange reacted favourably. The impression is now growing that a higher bank rate may be unnecessary this year. “PESSIMISM* NOT JUSTIFIED.” Sir George Hunter’s pessimistic remarks abount the country’s are dealt with in the Westminster Bank Review, which says: ‘‘The picture as a whole is painted much too blackly. If Sir Hunter had been equally familiar with the conditions in districts like Coventry as ho is with North-East England his outlook would certainly have been modified.” Tho Review points out that the latest annual analysis of nearly 1500 British limited companies shows that on the average the profits increased during the last year, and recent calculations place the volume of British production during 1924 as 85 per cent, of that of 1925, compared with 80 in 1921 and 95 in 1923. The Review proceeds to make tho suggestion that “Britain may have to attack the problem of foreign competition in trade by making a fresh advance in tho direction of industrial specialisation; that is, we may have to devote our energies lrss to crude industries, which foreign countries can carry on successfully locally with their own resources and more- to the finished processes in which our position is unchallenged.” The writer adds: “The process of transition may be painful in some respects, but wo shall be advancing a stage further along the path to economic evolution.” BUTTER MARKET DULL.

Dullness reigns in the butter market and tho business is almost negligible, but it is unlikely that this condition of affairs will continue for long. Holders, at any rate, show no alarm and are not pressing sales, for with the strike still holding up shipments from Australia and New Zealand, supplies of spot are getting small, and the general opinion is that soon there will not ho enough best butter for consumptive requirements. Much, of course, depends on whether consumers will continue' to pay tho present high retail prices or turn to margarine, tho makers of which arc assiduously advertising their best brands as substitutes for dear butter. FIRMNESS OF TIN.

The outstanding feature- of the metal market is the firmness of tin. According to one of the leading brokers, the conditions making for higher prices seem to gather strength. The high premiums commanded by Straits and lfanku tin in the Fast have induced the consumers to turn their attention to English refined, causing large withdrawals from tho English warehouses and a diminution ot the already limited quantity on warrant. Considering the daily volume oi transactions on Loudon, the available stock of standard tin is inadequate to the needs of the market, and the contango on forward till has been replaced by backwardation. AUSTRALIAN WINES.'

The competition of Australian wines continues to perturb the wine growers of Burguiid.v, and the Dijon Chamber of Commerce pro|>oscs to take steps to counteract it. The chamber objects to the use of the words “Burgundy” and “Chablis” in describing Australian wines, which it declares is harmful to the export trade in wines from Burgundy, and is requesting the Ministers of Commerce and Foreign Affairs to approach the British Government with the view to ending what the chamber calls disloyal competition.”—A. and N.Z. cable.