COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13097, 9 February 1906, Page 3

COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Herald Office, ; ;: Thursday evening. There has been brisk business on the sharemarket during the week. • In investment : shares Bank of New Zealands have adr vanced, and sold at £8 7s 6d, closing with further buyers at £8 6s. National Banks are al-o firmer, with demand at £6 6s, sellers asking £6 9s. In insurances sales have been made in New Zealand.-, at £5 16s and £5 16s &d, closing with sellers at £5 17s, and buyers at £5 14s. National Insurances are offered at 245. and South British at £5 13s. Standards have sold a! 18s 6d, and mow are wanted at 18s sd. seller.- at 18s Sd. New Zealand and River Plates arc wanted at 23s 9d. with sellers holding for 30s. In coals there has been no change of note during the week. Auckland Gas sold at £15, and are wanted, ex dividend, at £14 Us, no declared sellers. Gisbornc are wanted at 40s. Hamilton Gas are wanted at 40s, Wellington Ca.s at £18 15s, and New Plymouth lias at £7 16s, with no declared sellers. In shipping Northern Steam (paid up) are wanted at 16s lOd, with sellers at 17- 3d: contributing sold at Bs, and more are wanted at 8-, sellers ask 8s 3d. In timber there are sellers of Kauri, paid up. at 13- 9d, and of contributing shares at 5- 6d, buyers of the latter offering 5s 3d. I.<'v!a!id and O'Briens are on offer at 45-. Mitchcbon Timers at Bs, and Mountain Kimus at 19- 3d. buyers of the fatter stock ottering IS- 9d. D.S.C.'s have , sold at 8-. 4d, 8s 6d, and 8s 3d. and more are wanted at 8s 2d., sellers holding for 8s 6d. H.M. Arcade Company, preference, sold at 20- 6d. and Milne and Chorees, preference, at. 21=. Mining stocks have in several instances had free salt". In Thames lines Waiotahis ." have sold from £6 2s to £6 3s 6d to £6 Is 6d to £6 '-- 6d to £6 Is, and ex dividend from £5 15s to £5 lbs to £5 15s, closing with sellers at £5 Iw 6d, and buyers at £5 14s 6d. Kuntuui-Caledouians sold from 2s Bcl to 3s to 2- li' *o 5- 6tl to 3s, and late sellers were at 3s 2d. and buyers at 2s lOd. May Queen Extended* sold at Sid: New Darts at 4£d; New May Queens from 5< 8d to 5s 2d. New Occidentals changed hands at 5d and 4id: New Moanataiaris at Is lid and 2s; and New Saxons at 9d. There were sales of Now Sylvias at lid. 10|d, and lOd; Thames, at Is Id and Is 2d; Vanguards at 4d ; Victorias' at Is 7d. In Upper Thames Waihis sold at £7 5s 6d to £7 6s to £7 3s od. closing with demand at £7 3s, sellers asking £7 4s. Aucklauds sold at Is 9d and 1- Sd ; Crowns from 6s Id to 6s 3d to a- to c ? Id to 5s lid : Golden Belts, paid up, sold at 2s lid and 3s. Kornata Reefs changed hands at 2s 7d ; Rising Suns at from lOd to 9d to lOd to Bd. Talisman Consolidated had heavy transactions, the. business done being from 33s to 32s lOd to 33s to 32s- to 28s to 28s 9d to 31s 6d to 31s 3d, closing with more on offer at 31s 3d, buyers 31s Id. Waihi Consolidated sold from 2s lOd to os; Waihi Extended* from 6s 9d to 6s lOd to os to os 4d to 6; : and Waihi Consols at sd. In Coromandel lines there were sales of Bunker's Hills at 7d and 8d; New Four-in-Hands at Is 6d. Business has not been so brisk with distributing houses during the last few days. The seeded raisin market seems in an undecided slate. The lower price that took the place of the abnormally high price of a few weeks ago has again shown signs of an upward tendency. ; A great shortage is reported in figs. Quotations have been withdrawn and stocks held locally are small. Higher grades of salmon are difficult to procure, and prices are likely to advance until the next season's fish is available.

A London broker, in a concise summary of the market during the year, reports that: •• A review of the wool .season 1904-1905 shows considerable similarity to that of its predecessor as far as merino wools are concerned. The reason of this may be explained by the fact that again the scarcity of supplies has been the principal feature, though another important factor in the year's trade has been tho increased competition on American account, as much as onesixth of the quantity sold in one (series (May) being purchased by tho United. States of America. The superior descriptions of merino wool, both scoured and greasy, again have done best throughout, and, maintaining their position in the first and second series of the- year when other sorts weakened, are now at their highest point. At the close of the season all classes of wool stand at a high figure, merino descriptions ruling to-day 12£ per cent., and all grades of crossbreds from 15 to 20 per cent, dearer than in September, 1904. It is noteworthy, however, that merinos are still in average 15 per cent, below the highest point of 1899 (November-December), while crossbreds, on the other hand, are 40 per cent, above the top prices of that period. The sensation of the vear was furnished by the sudden; and severe fall in the values of medium and coarse crossbred wools, a decline due to reasons quite unconnected with the state of trade. These reasons contain no new feature, since it would seem that at successive intervals (the last occasion was at the end of 1899 and the commencement of 1900) a not inconsiderable portion of the trade fail to realise that the attempt to 'lift large quantities of high-priced wool some months before there is any chance of these purchases passing into consumption, raises a financial problem which is often difficult to work out. In the latter months of 1904 it happened that at a time when supplies of crossbreds were at famine point and coarse greasy wool was selling in London at Is, per lb, reports reached England that, prior to the opening of the local auctions in New Zealand, average greasy crossbreds had been sold at Bid per lb in the colony. Large orders to buv were, in consequence, sent out, and under stress of competition prices gradually rose till at the end of 1904 London parity was almost readied, and considerable, quantities of wool were sold at this level in local auctions. During the first half of the January series in London the keenest competition for coarse wool prevailed, and a slight advance was established on November quotations: but the serious political disturbances in Russia and the arrival of large quantities of crossbred bought early and therefore, cheaply in New Zealand, brought about a sudden change, and a drop of 12£ per cent, occurred during the short series. The opening of the March sales found a large section of the trade so occupied in. liquidating their direct purchases, which were now causing considerable anxiety, that they apparently overlooked the obvious fact that supplies of coarse wool would b» on an unpreeedentedlv small scale throughout the remainder of the year, and prices during the first week showed a further decline ot 15 per cent. Towards tho end of the series. however, the low range of values attracted a rush of purchasers, and a recovery took place, which, continuing unchecked throughout May and the two subsequent series, leaves prices for medium and coarse wools 40 per cent, above the lowest point of the year, though only some 15 per cent, above the highest range of January, one of the most severe fluctuations ever seen in the wool trade, and possibly one of the most unwarranted when exiting conditions of trade are considered. The quantity sold in London amounted to 712,000 bales as compared with 747,500 in the previous season It is estimated that 293.000 bales (41 per cent.) were taken for tho Continent of Europe, and 46,000 bales (6J per cent.) for America, leaving 373,000 bales (52£ per cent.) for the Home trade; these figures approximate very closely, except in the case of. America, to those of last year, when the Continent purchased 41 per cent, of the available quantity, and the Home trade 53i per cent. The total clip from Australasia amounted to 1,596,000 bales (377,000 bales from New Zealand), as against 1,370.000 bales in 1904, and 1,450,000 bales in 1903. This quantity is practically identical with that of the 1899-1900 season! but still 363,000' bales short, of the 1834-1895 clip, when the total production was 1,959,000 bales. Provided, therefore, that, the estimated increase in the corning clip of 250,000 bales be reached, the output from Australasia this next season should only be short of the largest total over exported by about 100,000 bales."

0. W. RINNEY AND SONS' REPORT. 'On Tuesday we cleared a good catalogue &J hides, gheepskina, tallow, etc.. under brisk competition. Hides skow an advance: Prime ox, to 9d ; extra "out, 740. to 7*d; stout, 6-U1 to 7d ; medium, bid ,0 &id; light, s'd to 5Jd; cow, best, sid to s|d; ?°od, 5Jd to sgd; seconds, 44d to &d; kips, 5d to •VI; calf, well Hayed, 6d to*6id; cut, 4d to 5d ; '"?»', M to sid; damaged hides, 2d to 3£d per Sheepskin 3: Butchers', large green and salted, on to fc3; medium, 63 to ba 6d ; small, 33 6d to a»; butchers' pelts, green and salted, 2s 8d to ■« Id; lambs, 2s 6d to 3s; countrv, dry, good, °> fed to 6s 6d; medium. 3s 9d to 4s 6d ; small, " to 3s each. Tallow: Market firm. Best mixed, 21b to 21s M: medium, 18a to 19a; seconds, lbs to 16s per cwt. R«ttgh fat, lid to lid per lb. cones: Best dry, £4 las per ton. -owtails, Is 6d" per dozen. ' Hair: Horse, tail Is 3d to Is 6d. mane 3d to lOd pet lb.

AUCKLAND STOCK EXCHANGE. The following are Thursday's closing price*,, the business done being:—Bank of New Zealand, £8 '• od; Standard Insurance, 18a 7d; Taupiri Coal Mines, 19a M; D.5.0., Limited, 8s 3d; H.M. Arcade Co. (preference), 20s 6d : Milne and Choree, Limited (preference), 21s; Northern Steamship (paid up), 8a; Waihi, £7 4s, £7 3» 6d : Waiotahi, £5 15s, £5 15?; Talisman, 30s, 30s 3d, 30s 6d, 30s Bd, 30s £id, Sin. 31» 6d, 31s 3d, 31s sd, 31s 4d, "la 3d; Ktiranui-Calcdonian, 3s Sd, 3s 4d, 3s 3d, is 3d, 3s 4d, St 3d, 3s Id, 3*; New May Queen, 5s 2d ; New Dart, 'id ; Old Hauraki (contributing), 6d ; Crown, f>g, lis, hs lid ; nisinj? Sun, 8d ; Waihi Extended, 6» 'Id, 6s 3d, 6s .id, 6s; WaimaiiKu (8d paid), bid.

CALL AND DIVIDEND LIST. Dividends. Due. Waiotahi 0 5 0 Now Waibi 0 3 0 Mar. 1 Union Bank of Australia ... 1 5 0 Now N.Z and River Plate Land Mortgage ... ... ... 7 p.c. Now Ilikurangi Coal Co ... Now His Majesty's Arcade 7 p.c. Now Minerals 0 10 Now Calls. Due, Waihi Consoln, December 14 ... 0 0 0J Now May Queen Extended, January 23 0 0 1 Feb. 14 ALFRED AUCKLAND AND SONS' REPORT. Horses: We had a full yard at the Haymarket on Friday last. Competition was keener than for the past three week?, and many changed hands at prices satisfactory to the vendors. Colts suitable for express work realised from £31 to £35; aged unci worn draughts, £10 to £2?; buggy horses and good hacks, £12 5s to £22 2s 6d ; light harness and ordinary hacks, £6 to £14; weeds mid ponies at late quotations. The gelding Blueskiii brought 18 guineas, and the advertised turnout £40. Hides, Skins, Tallow, etc.: Hides—Ox, 5d to 7^d ; cow, 5d to s£d; calf, sid to 64d; kips, s)d to s]d : tails, Is 6d down; horsehair. Is 6d ; bones, £4 15s; tallow, 21s to 23s 3d ; fat, lid lb. SkintLargo, 4s 6d to 6s; small, Is 2d to 3s lOu ; pelts, 2s 3d to 3s 21; lambs', 2s 4d to 3s Id; damaged at relative v.dues. Wool, in bags and dumps, at late quotations. On Saturday we hold a clearance sale at Mr. N. Casey's, Dairy Flat. There was a large attendance of buyers and bidding was spirited. Cows realised from £1 12n 6d to £4 17s 6d ; readings, £1 8s to £2 2s; hoists, £3 10s to £17 iOs; store sheep, 9s to '.As ; store lambs, 5s to 7s 9d ; implements, etc., £,t usual values. At Waiuku on Saturday we had an average yarding. Dairy cowsi were required, all selling readily at an advance on late rates. Other classes of stock were not in much demand, prices being about the same as those obtained last month. Dairy cattle were well represented at Remuera on Thursday, and met with a ready sale, cows, at their profit, gelling to £8 103, heifers to £7 7s 6d, dry to £3 2« 6d. The advertised store cattle sold at from £5 to £5 12s 6d ; younger cattle at recent quotations. Fat and young calves sold freelv, small to i's, medium to 16s, heavy to £3 l'2s 6d ; 78 sold. The beef pens were well rilled with cattle of choice quality, which met with steady competition throughout, ox beef selling at 20s the 1001b, in some cases 22s being reached; cow, 17s to 2Ds; 290 sold. Sheep, penned in moderate numbers, were no letter worth, extra heavy wetheia selling to 21s 6d, lighter weights 163 to 18s, heavy- ewes to 17s 3d, others 12s to 15s There was' an average yarding of lambs of good quality, which kept recent quotations choice selling to 15« sd; lighter weights, 103 6d to 14s. Pigii, in usual numbers, were easier in value, small selling from 5s to 12s 6d, stores to 18s, porkers to 335, baconers to 46a; 89 sold. FROZEN" MEAT. [BY TELEGRAPH.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Napier, Thursday. The Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company cables:—There is no improvement in the frozen meat market. Prices are unchanged. LONDON. By Telegraph.— Association.— LONDON, February 7. Copper: Spot, £7" three months, £75 7s 6d. Tin: Spot, £165 15s; three months, £164 10s. Iron, 51s £U. Lead, £16 7s fid. , , , , . . Wkeat: Thirteen thousand quarters of Adelaide January-February shipment have sold at 31s, and 10,000 quarters Victorian February shipment at 30s 9d. Tallow : 965 casks offered and 254 sold. Fine mutton, 33s 6d; medium, 27s 6d. Fine beef, 298 9d; medium, 275.

Sellers Buyers. £ s. d. £ g. d. BANKS— New Zealand ... ... — 8 6 6 National 6 8 6 6 6 0 INSURANCENow Zealand 5 17 0 5 14 0 South British 5 13 0 _ Standard 0 18 8 0 18 5 FINANCIAL— N.Z. and Rivet Plate ... 1 10 0 18 9 COAL— Hikurangi 0 14 0 Tiiupiri Mines, Limited ... 0 19 9 0 19 3 Westport _ 6 8 0 GAS— Auckland 14 14 0 Gisborne _ 2 0 0 Hamilton ... 2 0 0 Wellington _ 18 15 0 New Plymouth _ 7 16 0 SHIPPINGNorthern Steam, paid tip 0 17 3 0 16 10 Northern Steam, run. ... 0 8 3 0 8 0 Devonport Steam Ferry 1 16 9 1 16 0 TIMBER— Kauri, paid up 0 13 9 _ Kauri, contributing ... 0 3 6 0 3 4 Leyland-O'Brien, Ltd. ... 2 3 0 _ Mitchelson Co OHO Mountain lliiuu, Ltd. ... 0 19 3 0 18 9 MISCELLANEOUS— PS.C., Limited 0 8 6 0 8 0 H.M. Arc.ide Co., pref. 116 10 0 Milne and Choycu, pref. ... 1 2 0 110 New Zealand Drug, £2 ... — 2 6 3 New Zealand Paper Mills 13 9 — Tonson Ga.-lick, Ltd. ... 0 18 6 0 17 6 Union Oil ... _ 110 Wilson and Co., pref ... 0 19 6 0 18 0 DEBENTURES : Auckland Gas, 5; percent. _ 22 0 0 MINING— Kuranui-Caledonian, paid 0 3 2 0 2 10 .May Queen Extended ... 0 0 9 0 0 8 New Dart 0 0 41 0 0 3i New May Queen 0 5 2 0 5 0 New Moanulaiari 0 2 2 0 19 New Monowni 0 0 6', 0 0 6 New Occidental 0 0 5], — New I'm ... 0 0 6 0 0 3 New Saxon 0 0 91 008 New Sylvia 0 0 10" — Old Albumin 0 18 0 15 Thames ... 0 12 0 11 Vanguard 0 0 5i 0 0 44 Victoria 0 17 _ Waiotahi 5 16 6 5 14 6 Bunker's 11 ill 0 10 0 0 9 New Four-in-Hand ... 0 1 4 _ Hauraki Freehold ... 0 0:"-. _ Old Hauralti, paid up ... 0 0 10 _ Old Hauraki, contributing 0 0 7 0 0 6 Auckland 0 19,017 Crown 0 5 11 0 5 9 Golden Beb, paid up ... 0 3 1 0 2 11 Golden Belt, contributing 0 2 7 0 2 3 Komata Reefs 0 2 7 0 2 6 Onialui. contributing ... 0 1 6 — Pride of Waihi 0 11 0 0 10 Rising Sun 0 0 9 0 0 a Tairua Broken llilln ... 0 2 11 0 2 9 Talisman Consolidated ... 1 11 3 1 11 1 Waihi 7 4 0 7 3 0 Waihi Consolidated ... 0 3 0 0 2 9 Waihi Consols 0 0 7 0 0 6 Waihi Extended 0 6 2 0 5 11 Waihi Grand Junction ... 3 11 0 3 6 0 Waihi South 0 0 2 — Wainiangu, Is paid ... 0 1 0 0 0 9J Waitnangu, Scl paid ... 0 0 8 0 0 6 Sunbeam Gold and Silver 0 0 11 0 0 9 H. P. HffDLKSTON, Secretary. G. A. Bottle, Chairman, 3.15 p.m., 'February 8, 1906.