COMMERCIAL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1250, 13 February 1896, Page 8

COMMERCIAL.

STOCK MARKETS. Mr Matthew" Henry, Palmerston, reports on sale held February 6th :

A fair eniry of useful sheep came forward for to-day’s sale, but cattle were in small numbers, the demand for the latter being practically lifeless. The bidding for sheep was also far from satisfactory, although every line offered was "quitted either at auction or privately at prices which showed little change on recent sales. The following are quotations : Cattle —Cows, .£3 ; weaners, 17s.

Sheep—Forward 2 and 4-tooth wethers, chiefly 2-tooth, 7s ; 2 and 4-tooth wethers, 7s 6d; fat ewes, 5s Gd, 5s 9d to 6s 6d; shorn lambs, 3s Id ; woolly lambs, 4s sd. In consequence of the ram fair the next stock sale will be held on the 20th inst.

A. G. Taine and Co. report of the markets for the week ending 6th February : —Fat sheep are decidedly easy, best butchers’ wethers up to 10s ; freezers, 9s 6d to 9s 9d ; fat ewes, 7s 6d to Ss for best, 6s to 7s for medium. Store sheep—The demand for good store wethers is still fairly good ; 4-tootli, 7s to 8s for well-framed sheep ; 2-tooth mixed, 6s to 7s. Lambs —Unshorn, up to 4s 9d ; inferior, 2s to 2s 6d. Cattle—We quote beef, 16s io 17s for prime bullock beef ; stores, yearlings, 30s to 40s ; 2-year steers, 50s to 60s; 3-year do., <£3 10s to JM, and market dropping as it does at this time of the year. Dairy Cattle—Good demand for all coming forward close to calving. Up to <£7 10s has been paid for good young cows, and .£3 to <£4 for heifers. Pigs—Slips, 5s . to 6s ; porkers, 18s to 22s Gd ; baeoners, 30s to 40s. Horses — At the weekly sale in our yards we had a large entry of 50 horses, including a truck of harness horses and springdray sorts from Wairarapa, and also a truck of broken and unbroken horses from Taranaki, all good sorts. The balance was made up of consignments from Manawatu and local owners. The attendance was large, but bidding dragged a good deal ; still we effected a cood many sales good harness sorts bringing from <£lo 10s to <£l3 10s and lighter sorts from o£6 to £6. The unbroken horses were unsold. Of the ordinary entry we sold useful aged harness horses from an to <£7 10s. Hacks are still unsaleable. We had no draughts to [ offer, and a few good ones would sell up to i <£2s for the right sort. The wool market is I still strong, and we have made some good private sales lately, Gd to 7d for bush wool and 8d to for clean bright lustrous wool, and a demand for more. Sheepskins —Very few coming forward, except pelts for our weekly sales. Properties—We have sold all the sections in the township of Rotlisay, near Bay, at prices ranging from 10 to 20 guineas, and as there is still a good demand, wo shall offer in a few days more sections, as we are getting the township extended. Town and country properties are briskly inquired after, and we have effected a number of sales. A. G. Taine and Co. report of their horse sale on Saturday : —We had a good entry, which included a good number of country horses and a few draughts. Following on the large entry of the previous Saturday. there were too many for the limited number of buyers. The limited demand was principally for useful harness horses, and. strange to say, notwithstanding the small supply of good draughts for some time past, there seemed to be no demand for that class of horse. We effected a number of sales, chiefly of low-priced sorts. The bicycle has killed the demand for hacks. We sold good spring van colt, .£l4 5s ; and good well-tried spring dray gelding, <£l6 ; light harness horses to .£l2, and aged sorts from <£4 to <£B. A large mob of light weedy unbroken sorts passed South on Friday. Abraham and Williams report : —At Pahiatua on Tuesday the muster of cattle was small, and these proved dull of sale. Yearling steers 3 28s to 32s 6d ; vreaners, 19s,

Sheep, in short supply, were in_ limited demand ; small ewes and w'ethers, 2-tooths, os Gd ; lambs, 2s lid to 3s 4d. At Palmerston on Thursday thero was a full yarding of sheep. The listless bidding of recent sales gave way to a more spirited tone, and every lot was well competed for, _ though it is doubtful if any advance in price took place. Store ewes, 3s 3d to 4s 5d ; fat ewes, 6s 3d.; aged ewes, 2s ; shorn lambs, 2s 3d ; those m wool, 2s 5d to 3s 9d ; culls, Is 5d ; store wethers, 0s 9d to 7s 2d. A small entry of cattle. Competition was dull under the hammer, a fair proportion being disposed of afterwards ; 21-year cattle, chiefly heifers, .£2 13s ; 18-month heifers, 32s 6d: mixed yearlings, good sorts, 30s. On V ednesday we held a cleaving sale of IVIr R. Iv. Reed s stock. 1 here was a good attendance. The cows had been in milk for some time, which militated against larger figures being obtained. The sheep were of excellent Quality, and in good order. Cows made from £2 17s Gd to .£4 os. Two-tooth Lincoln rams to <£l Is ; ram lambs, 4s to Is 9d ; ewe lambs, 7s 3d; 2, L and 6 tooth ewes, 9s 3d; full-mouth ewes, 6s 3d. _____ London, February 4. The total quantity of wheat and flour afloat for the United Kingdom is 2.503,000 quarters, and for the Continent 515,000 quarters London, February 7. The Bank of England returns published today show the total reserve to be ,£39,987,000, the proportion of reserve to liabilities being b3'4o per cent. Three months’ bills are discounted at | per cent., market quiet. The following are the latest quotations for Government securities: —

payable in May and November •{-Interest payable in January and July'.

New Zealand long-berried wheat, ex -warehouse, nominal ; South Australian ditto, 30s 7id firm ; Victorian, 3()s 9d, firm. New Zealand frozen meat —First quality, 3*d ; second quality, 3-jd- Lamb, 51 d ; new suppl.y, s£d. The hemp market is steady. One hundred and ninety seven bales have been sold at 15 guineas each. Su°ar —Best German beet, 11s IO.Vd ; Java, 13s Gd. No. 1 best Scotch pig iron, f.o.b. in Clyde, 47s 3d. Silver, 2s Old. The butter market is lifeless ; prices, nominally, 100 sto 101 s. Peas are quiet at 27s 9d. London, February 8. The English wheat market is steady, the Continental advancing, and the American inactive. At yesterday’s sales 1325 casks tallow were offered, of which 400 were sold. Medium mutton brought 21s Gd, medium beef, 20s ; hides, heavy ox, 3Jd ; cow, 3^ ! d ; leather, best heavy, 9Jd. The imports of the United Kingdom last month show an increase in value of .£1,730,000, and exports an increase of <£2,903,000. Sydney, February 5.

Wheat Chick, 3s lOd; milling, prime, 4s 3d. Flour —Roller, .£lO 15s to <£ll. Oats —Prime feeding, 2s 2d; seed, 2s Gd. Maize, os 3d. Barley— (Jape, 3s 3d. Bran, 9!d ; New Zealand, 9d. Pollard, lOd ; New Zealand, 9.1(1. Peas —Prussian blue, 5s Gd. Potatoes — Locally grown, <£3 10s to .£4 5s ; New Zealand kidneys, <£s ; Circular Heads, d£s 7s Gd to £5 10s. Onions, <£s 10s to £O. Butter—Dairy made, 9d to lOd ; factory, lid to lI.Vd. Cheese —New Zealand, Gd to 7d. Bacon, Gd to Gld.

Sydney, February 7

There was a flutter iu the wheat market to-day. An attempt was made to place a large order on a Queensland account at a slight advance on current rates, and the largo holders immediately advanced their demands to 4s Bd, and no business resulted. The market is now unsettled. Sydney, February 10.

Despite the arrival of over 100,000 bushels of San Francisco wheat and a large quantity of flour, breadstuff's were very firm m tho city last week, and millers offering 4s 3.1 and 4s 4d, while holders in the country wanted an extra 3d. The Saturday market, however, closed in a disorganised condition, owing to large orders from Queensland causing holders to advance their demands to 4s Bd, and business was at a standstill.

The Daily Telegraph says the uncertainty in regard to the quality of the yield of the New Zealand crop is exerting a depressing effect on speculative business. Melbourne, February 5.

Wheat, quiet, 4s 8d to 4s lid. Flour, small sales —Roller, <£l2 10s. Oats, easier— Algerian, 2s Gd to 3s Id; Danish, 3s ; stout

white, 3s 34d. Maize, 3s 7d. Barley, scarce —Cape, 3s "id to 3s 5d ; malting, 4s 3d to 4s 7d. Bran,ls Ojd. Adelaide, Februaiy 5. Wheat, 4s 34d. Flour —Holler, ~£9 10s. Barley—Cape, 2s 3d to 3s ; malting, 3s Gd to 4s 3d. Bran and pollard, Hid.

THE SHARE MARKET. Saturday, February S. The undermentioned sharebrokers report on the sliaremarket as follows : —•

A. T. Bate S. R. Dransficld Harcourt & Co. It. W. Kirlcby D. T. Stuart J . Henderson E. Bucholz

— Price. Variation as compared with last week. £, s. d. Im. Consols, 2J p.c. 10S 0 0 Unchanged N.S.YV. 4 per cent. 118 10 0 10/- higher N.S.W. G.V p c. 108 15 0 10 - higher Victorian 4 p.c. 110 0 0 Unchanged Victorian 3.V p.c. 104 0 0 Unchanged S. Australian 4p.c. 113 0 0 15 - higher S. Australian p.c. 108 0 0 5/- lower Queensland 4 p.c. 112 10 0 5 - higher Queensland 3.V p.c. 10G 10 0 Unchanged New Zealand 4 p.c.* 112 0 0 5/- lower New Zealand p.c.f 105 0 0 Unchanged W. Australian 4 p.c. 122 0 0 20/- lower Tasmania 34 p.c. 106 0 0 Unchanged

Du vox ■Scllei •s. Last Sales. LOO A L. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. Woollen Co. 2 2 10/0 / LO G ) Gas Co mp an y (ex) d£10 paid 15 10 0 LO 10 0 £2 paid ... 3 17 t> Trust and Loan (ox) G 0 0 Equitable Building (cx) G 15 0 Building and Investment (ex) ... G 13 G Manawatu Hail way 1 2 G 1 G Gear Meat Co. 5 10 0 Meat Export Co., £ 5 paid 3 15 0 BANKS. National 1 8 0 Colonial (ex) 0 o o 0 G 0 INSURANCE. New Zealand 3 10 0 National 0 is o 0 IS o South British 13 0 Standard 0 18 9 SHIPPING. Union Steam Ship — 5 12 0 N.Z. Ship’ng 4 2 G GAS. Napier (cum) 15 12 d Wanganui ... 13 5 0 13 5 0 Palmerston North. c£3 10s paid . . :? 0 0 3 2 6 MISCELLANEOUS. N.Z. and Biver Plate (ex) 0 5 G 0 5 0 National Mortgage and Agency 0 13 G Mosgiel Woollen ... 3 S 0 Kaiapoi Woollen 5 2 0 N Z. Drug i i 0 1 i G Westport Coal (cum) 2 o