COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1211, 17 May 1895, Page 7

COMMERCIAL.

Laery and Co. (Limited) report for the past week as follow : Wheat Southern markets have displayed during the past week considerable activity, and large purchases have been made for trade, as well as for speculative purposes, j Values have advanced in consequence, and the market to-day is firm at our quotations. We quote prime milling, 2s to 2s lOd; medium to good, 2s 7d, f.o.b. Southern ports. Whole fowl wheat is very scarce, and likely to harden. Best samples are worth to-day 2s 8d to 2s 9d, ex stores, Wellington. Oats —Without alteration. Southern holders, however, show some disposition to increase their limits. Meantime satisfactory business is passing at late rates. We quote —Prime short oats, Is 7d to Is 8d ; stout feed, ‘ Is 6d to Is 7d ; Danish, Is 7d; duns, Is 8d to Is 9d. Barley—Nothing doing. Maltsters throughout the Colony are fully supplied, and sales are now impossible to effect. Large quantities still remain in growers’ hands, and we are disposed to think that the only outlet for choice lines will prove to be the London market. We quote nominally choice malting, 3s to 3s Gd ; medium to good, 2s 6d. Maize — Fair demand at 2s 6d to 2s 7d per bushel. Pollard —Stocks throughout the Colony are very light and the market oontinue3 firm at 92s 6d per ton. Chaff—ln fair demand, at from 57s Gdto 62s Gd for prime bright lines ; medium. 47s Gd to 55s per ton. A. G, Tains and Co. report for the iveek ending May 10th :—Fat sheep—At our last fat stock sale at Lower Hutt medium wethers brought up to 8s Gd ; nothing good entered ; fat ewes. 5s to 6s for very medium kinds. We quote sales of prime fat wethers 9s to 9s Gd ; best fat ewes up to 7s 9d ; store wethers, very fresh, 6s Gd to 7s Gd; light, 5s to 5s Gd ; ewes in lamb, 4 to 6-tooth, 6s to 7s for good sheep ; full mouth, 3s to 4s ; lambs in wool, 4s to 4s Gd, Fat cattle —In fairly good supply. We quote prime bullook beef 18s per 1001 b; shade hotter for anything extra good; cow beef, 14s to 15s. Store cattle — Only young cattle are selling ; very moderate demand for grown cattle. We quote sales of fresh steers, <£4 to £4 15s ; 2 to 2£yr steers, £2 10s to £3; yearlings, 25s to 30s ; weaners, 15s to 20s. Dairy stock —At our yards,Lower Hutt, on Thursday, we had a good entry, the chief attraction being 16 Ayrshire heifers and cows from the South. They were a very nice lot, and sold from 6 guineas to 11| guineas. We sold ordinary heifers near calving £4. to £5 5s ; cows, =£4 to £6. Nothing near calving entered worth recording. We can obtain up to £9 for really good cows close to, calying, or- just calved, at our Hutt sales. Grain —Wheat on the move, slowly but surely farming. No. sales to report except Christchurch wheat, which has fetched up to, 2s 9d. Oats—Market a little firmer, and better enquiry for best feed up to, Is Bd. Wool — ivl arket s,till [firm for any odd lots coming to hand, Sheop, skins,—Qo,od demand; all coming forward selling readily up to 2s 9d for best skins, and up to 4|d per lb for dry country skips, Wo advise' all to send any forward quickly. Matthew Henry reoortsof his. Palmerston sale : —A very small entry of both sheep and cattle came forward to-day, and with a small attendance trade ruled dull. Recent private sales. A line of steers, £3 12s Gd; picked shorn lambs, 4s 3d ; wethers, 6s Gd to Gs 9d. Today’s quotations are as under : —Cattle —Fat cows, £4 10s ; dairy cows, £4 10s . Sheep — Two-tooth wethers, 7s 6d ; ewes in lamb, 4s 3d ; fat ewes, 5s 7d. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company (Limiter) has received the following cable advice from its London office under date 11th May : —Mutton market is weak. Canterbury is worth 2gd per lb ; Wellington, 2£d per lb. Lamb market is firmer. Prime New Zealand is worth por carcase 4§d per lb. Butter —Fine qualities New Zealand is worth 74s to 78s per cwt. There is a fair demand.

Edwards and Mcße.atb; report of the labour market that there has been a moderate demand for male a,nd female servants during th,e week, but labour is still plentiful. A. G- Taine and Co. report of their weekly Saturday’s horse sale : —Wo had again a yery good entry of horses of all classes, and a good attendance of the public. Bidding was not by any means lively, but we disposed of a good number of our- entry. "We offered the racehorses Mirth (by St. Clair) and Bangar (by Puritan,), but both were passed in unsold, and are now for private sale. We offered some good heavy draughts, and disposed of several at, from £8 to .£lB 10s, and £2O for a good draught gelding. The hacks and harness horses were of the ordinary description —nothing for special mention. We sold harness horses from £6 to £8 ; hacks, £3 5s to £5 —mostly aged sorts. There was a demand for good, young, sound heavy draughts, which will be met by the expeoted arrival of six first-class horses, whioh we are advised of from the South. Good young, sound harness horses for spring cart and ’bus work, were also in demand, but there was nothing good enough for buyers in the yard. We disposed of a lot of harness, saddles and bridles, which all sold very well.

London, May 8. The total quantity of wheat and flour afloat for the United Kingdom is 3,640,000 quarters, and fqr the Continent 1,490,000 quarters. The American visible wheat supply is estimated at 76,360,000 bushels. The wheat market is weaker, and prices have declined 3d to 6d. Silver is quoted at 2s 6{jd. London, May 9. Victorian wheat, new crop, is quoted at 24s 3d. London, May 10. The following are the quotations of Government securities:— Variation as Price. last week.

New Zealand long-berried wheat, ex j warehouse, firm, 26s 6d; South Australian I wheat, ex warehouse, firm, 26s 9d ; Victorian i wheat, ex warehouse, steady, 26s 3d.. j No. 1 beet Scotch pig iron, f.o.b. in Clyde, Us,

The weekly returns of the Bank of England, published to-day, show the total reserve to be £27,514,000, and the proportion of reserve to liabilities 65‘2G per cent. Sugar—Market firm ; German, 10s ; Java. 12s. Babbits are seiling steadily at B£d to 9d each. New Zealand hemp—Market unchanged. Three months’ bills are discounted at fper cent. New Zealand frozen mutton —First quality. 3)-d per lb; second quality, 2£d. Lamb averages 3|d. Mr Valentine reports that the Hawkesbury cheese, ex Thermopylce, averages 49s per cwt. Copper has risen 51s per ton, while tin, owing to a combination, has risen 10s. At the sales of kauri gum yesterday, 3750 packages were offered, 3000 being disposed of. Three-quarter scraped brought 833; half scraped, 48s. There are now 2100 packages in stock. London, May 12. Tallow—Medium mutton, 22s 6d ; medium beef, 21s. The English wheat market has an upward tendency, the Continental is firm, and the American is changing a little for the worse. The Cape, May 10. The Government propose to include { frozen meat in the category of preserved meats, thus raising the duty 2d per lb, provided other parties consent. The farmers are alarmed at the imports from the Australian colonies.

THE WOOL MARKET. London, May 8, At the wool sales yesterday German and American representatives were operating largely in good combings. At the wool sales a good selection is offered. Prices are very firm, 'and the Continental buyers are making heavy purchases. London, May 10. At the wool sales Continental buyers are the chief operators. The American sales are confined chiefly to the best.wools. At the wool sales prices are irregular. At the wool sales bidding is spirited and prices very firm. Medium greasies have recovered £d per lb on the opening decline. Foreign houses, especially Russian, are making heavy purchases. The consignment ex Elderslie, from Australia, realised per lb. London, May 12. The total quantity of wool catalogued up to date ia 149,000 bales, of which 123,600 bales have been sold. Representatives of British firms are buying - extensively Australasian scoured wools. Full woolled merino sheepskins are to id: higher. Levin and Co. have received the following cablegram from their London agents, Dalgety and Co., Limited, under date the 6th May—“At tbe wool sales prices continue firmer, except for inferior and faulty scoured merino fleece, greasy merino fleece in heavy condition, and thin-haired merino fleece. Continental buyers are operating again more freely.” Murray, Roberts and Co. have received a cablegram, dated Bth instant, from their Loudon firmer, Sanderson, Murray and Co., regarding the London wool sales, as follows : “ The market is firmer, but prices are not quotably higher. A considerable quantity has been bought in.”

£ s. d. Consols 106 5 0 20/- higher N.S.W. 4 per cent. ... 115 15 0 5/- lower N.S.W. 3} p.c. 105 0 0 10/- higher Victorian 4 p.c. ... 106 0 0 5/- higher Victorian 3& p.c. ... 101 0 0 10/- higher South Australian 4 p.c. 109 0 0 unchanged South Australian 3|-p.c. 104 0 0 unchanged Queens 7 and 4 p.c. ... 110 0 0 15/- higher Queensland p.c. ... 102 5 0 15/- lower Tasmania 3£ p.c. ... 103 15 0 15/- higher West Australian 4 p.c. 117 0 0 20/- higher New Zealand 4 p.c. ... Ill 10 0 40/- higher New Zealand 3| p.c. ... 104 10 0 10/- higher