COMMERCIAL NEWS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXX, Issue 8683, 7 January 1905, Page 4

COMMERCIAL NEWS.

[By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.]

HOME ■MARKETS. (Per Press Association.) 'Beceived January 6, at 11 p.m. London, January 6. Bank of Encland returns: Gold, coin l , £29,540,000; reserve, £20,932,000; percentage of reserve to liabilities, 34.94; in circulation, £28,608,000; public deposits, £12,366,000; other deposits, £47,441,000; Government securities, £20,410,000 ; other securities, £36,420,000. Three months bills, 2-|. Consols, 88 15-16ths. New South Wales fours, 105 i; threehalfs, 97£; threes, 86. Victorian fours, 103 i ; three-halfs, 96 ; threes, 85£. South Australian three-halfs, 97£; threes, 85. Queensland fours, IC4£; three-halfs, 96i; threes, 85. New Zealand fours, 108; three-halfs, 98; threes, 88£. Tasmanian three-halfs, 98; tluees, 86. Westralian three-halfs, 96j; threes, 85. Wheat. —The severe weather has hardened the American and Continental markets. The English market- is quiet. Cargoes are neglected. For January-February shipments 52s 6d is offered.

Flour is unchanged. Owing to the holidays the Glasgow market for 'butter is good, with a good trade for all descriptions, but prices are unchanged. The chief demand is for secondary at about 945. Owing to the Orizaba's shipment being late, about 110,000 boxes will arrive in the next three days. Cheese is firm. Canadian, 54s to 555; New Zealand, 525. Copper.—Spot, 68|; three months, 69iIron, £SO 7s 6d. Lead, £l3 ss. Spelter, 25 5-16ths. Silver, 2s 3d 15-16ths. Sugar is strong. First marks, 16s sd; German, 15s. At Bradford wool is firm, but unchanged. CHRTSTCHURCH MARKETS. (By Telegraph.) (From Our Own Correspondent.) Cliristchurch, January 6. Business has not yet been fully resumed after the holidays and the markets are extremely quiet. No new grain has yet been offered. A line of wheat has been sold at 3s B£d f.o.b. and a sale is reported from Ashburton at 3s s£d, on trucks, both being all Tuscan, and to supply immediate requirements. There is really no inquiry. There is a good demand for oats, but very few are offering and the only sale of consequence is 1800 sacks of Danish at Is 6d, ex store, Lyttelton—a price which, after paying storage, will net the vendor about Is 3id, at his railway station. Oatsheaf cliaff is wanted for immediate delivery, and as much as 65s would be paid, but little is obtainable. It is reported from Blenheim that tho market lias opened at 655. The following are the alterations in last week's quotations. Tuscan, 3s Bid, oatsheaf chaff 65s ; dairy produce—cheese, dairy 3Jd to 4d. factory, large, 4£d, loaf 4id to sd. Other figures unaltered. DUNEDIN MARKETS. To-day's Otago Daily Times reports : The new year has opened with a crisp feeling in the local wheat market, and millers from botk north and south evidence a desire to ojK-rate. The nominal quotation still remains at os 6d on trucks, northera stations, but the sale is reported of_a line of velvet to a southern miller at 3s 5Jd, on trucks, Oamaru. It is stated, however, that not much grain is available at that price. For the most part all prime milling wheat is firmly held, but it remains to bo seen whether the market will hold to its present level in the face of the coming harvest. Reports from the north state that, given good weather, cutting will commense in about a fortnight's time in early patches in South Canterbury and North Otago, which means that there will be no new wheat upon the market for five or six weeks. It will thus be well on in March before any quantity of new wheat is offering, and it has always to be borne in mind that a late harvest is a precarious one. The new year hns opened with a brisk demand for chick wheat, which is remarkably scarce both here and in the north. Sales have been made of good whole fowl feed at 3s on trucks, Oamaru, and the local quotation is firm at- 3s 2d for good samples, or a. rise of Id psr bushel. Tho flour market is brisker than for many years past, and the orders show signs of returning to normal. The flour in 50's offering just before the holidays at a shade less than Association rates has been withdrawn for the present. The New Zealand ■Flourmillers' Association's tariff stands unaltered as follows:—Sacks, £10; 100"s, £lO 10s; 50's, £lO 15s; 25's, £ll. The shipping price is £9 10s f.o.b.

Owing to the fact that some of the local mills arc closed down, there is a great scarcity of pollard, and local millers refuse to sell at under £4 10s per ton, although the association tariff still stands at £4. The price of bran remains at £3 5s for local orders, and £3 for shipment, and stocks are ample for requirements. There is a good demand for oats, but owing to the smallness of stocks difficulty is found in filling ordeTS, and the market is _ consequently firm. Sales of good B grade have been made at up to Is 7d, ex store. Dunedin, and Is sd, on trucks. Gore has been paid for a line of B grade Sparrowbills. At tho same time some difficulty is experienced in obtaining corresponding value for A-grade Sutherlands, which are not in demand for shipment. Several lines of these have recently been cleared to millers at Is 7d, ex store. Oamaru new kidney potatoes are coming forward more freely, but the quality varies considerably, and so do the quotations. Prime samples have been sold at up to 10s per cwt, whilst inferior are offering at 8s 9d and even lower prices.—Peninsulas are quoted at to per lb. Old Derwents are worth £4 per ton, but the demand for these is falling aff. TBIARU MARKETS. There has been very little business in grain during the past week, it having been curtailed by the holidays, and no sales are reported. Wheat values are nominally the same as previous quotations. Oats are at the fololwing prices:—Danish Is 6d, Duns Is 9d, Cartons Is Bd, f.o.b. STOCK SALES. A stock sale was held at St. Andrews yesterday, and the following prices represent those obtained :—Four and 6-tooth ewes, 19s; 2-tooth three-quarterbred wethers, 17s; ewes and lamb,' lis 9d to 13s; cow in calf, £3 ss.