TRADE SUMMARY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 153, 31 May 1937, Page 7

TRADE SUMMARY

MARKETS VERY QUIET. DEFENCE TAX BLAMED. LITTLE BUYING OF BUTTER. (United Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) Received May 31, 11.5 a.m. LONDON, May 30. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that the. markets might well be closed, business is so slender. The revised version of the defence contribution lias robbed them of every shred of interest. Meanwhile, the forces against’ the tax are massing. The Conservative motion lor tlie rejection of the Finance Bill is unlikely to be carried, as it would mean the overthrow of the Government, but it is hoped that the fact that an influential section of the party has taken' this extreme course will impress upon Mr Neville Chamberlain the (fact that the attack is likely to be supported from all sections of the House. Even Labour members, who favour taxation on profits, consider that the defence contribution is an extremely clumsy way of doing so. Commodities are also quiet. They have shown a tendency to drift downwards in the absence of speculative interest. The early summer is normally quiet, so any marked revival in the near future is improbable. Rubber especially is disappointing in view of tjie strong statistical position of Malayan. Production for April is well down compared with March. Butter is lifeless. It lias largely maintained its present values, though there has been no selling pressure, l’he Whitsun holidays, the repercusfrom the bus strike and the threatened coal strike led buyers to hold, off the market. Some livening of interest can now be expected. Hie Economist’s review of the state of trade draws attention to the marked revival in exports, which indicates that recovery is proceed ng in the right direction. Manufacturing costs are rising, but there are few indications of resistance to higher prices' except in some consumption goods trades. The prospects in nearly all industries remain promising. Building activity is higher than ever. World industrial activity and international trade continue to expand. Tlie volume of world trade is now only 7i per cent, below the 1929 level and is still growing. Raw material producing countries continue to gain ground and industrial production is expatidiig in Germany, Japan, Belgium, and Holland,, but progress is slow in France.