COMMERCIAL CABLEGRAMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3803, 1 February 1927, Page 21

COMMERCIAL CABLEGRAMS.

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE. GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. LONDON, January 27. The following are the latest quotations for Government securities compared with the prices ruling last week :—

FOREIGN EXCHANGES. LONDON, January 27. The exchange rates on London are as follows:— Par. Jan. 24. Jan. 27. Paris, Tr. to £1 21.22$ 122.50 122.87 Brussels, belgas to £1 ... 5 31.91 34.88 Oslo, kr to £1 18.159 19.02$ 18.93 Copenhagen, kr. to £1 ._ 18.159 18.21 — Stockholm, kr. to £1 ._ 18.159 18.19 18.18 Berlin, reichmkn to £1 ... — 20.47 20.47 Montreal, dol to £1 „. 4.86 J 4.86$ 4.85 13-16 New York, dol. to £1 „ 4.863 4.85 5-16 4.85 1-16 Yokohama, st. to yen ... 24.5 24$ 2413-16 Borne, lire to £1 22.22$ 113.00 112.50 Calcutta, st to rpe, 16 to gold £...18 1-16 18.16 Hongkong, st to dol. ... • 24J 24J Amsterdam, guild, to £1 12.107 12.141 12.14 Batavia — 12.11 12.11 • Governed by price of silver. LONDON METAL MARKET. Copper: Standard, spot £54 16s 3d: forword, £55 8s 9d. Lead: Spot £26 2s 6d; forward, £27 3s 9d. Spelter: Spot £29 8s 9d; forward £29 ss. Tin: Spot £290 7s 6d; forward, £286 12s 6d. Silver: Standard 26 15-16 d; fine 29 l-16d per ounce. air, . , , January 29. Sheep: Canterbury heavy, 6Jd; New Zealand ewes, 4Jd; Argentine light, sgd: ewes, 4|d; Australian ewes, 4Jd. w J La l S lb i, Canterbury heavy 7gd, seconds 7d; North Island firsts 10|d, seconds 9|d: Australian firsts, other states 7£d; seconds, Victorian, 7Jd; others, 62d; thirds, 63 d; Argentine seconds, 6|d. Chilled beef: Argentine fores, 3Jd: others unchanged.BANK OF ENGLAND RETURN. . LONDON, January 27. lhe following is the Bank of England returns for Wednesday:— ISSUE DEPARTMENT. Note circulation £137,049,000 Notes m reserve 32,782,000 £169,831,000 Government debt £11,015,000 Other securities 8,735 000 Gold coin and bullion £169,831,000 BANKING DEPARTMENT. Proprietors’ capital £14,553,000 Rest 3 543 030 Public deposits 13J34,’000 Other deposits 102,777,000 Sevcn-day, and other bills ... 4,000 £134,616,000 Government securities f£2BllB 000 Other securities 72,453,000 Notes in reserve 32,782,000 Gold and silver coin 1,263,000 £154,616,000 . proportion of reserves to liabilities « 29-20 per cent. Short loans are quoted 5* P er cont., and three-month bills at 4 3-32 per cent.

LONDON WHEAT. MARKET. LONDON, January 24. The settlement of the chartering dispute did not produce any rush of fixtures. On the contrary, the market was the dullest for days, the only fixture being a South Australian and Victorian at 46s 3d. The shipowners are trying to obtain 47s 6d without charterers responding. Parcels are in moderate demand and are unchanged. Sales; 53s 6d to 54s Liverpool futures— March, 10s 6d per cental; May, 10s 29d: July, 10s 3Jd. CHICAGO WHEAT MARKET. NEW YORK, January 24. Chicago -wheat: May, 142 5-8 cents per bushel; July, 133 1-8; September, 129 5-8. . January 27. Chicago wheat: May 1413 cents per bushel; July, 132 f; September, 1291. CANADIAN WHEAT CROP. OTTAWA, January 25. The Dominion Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday issued the 1926 crop report, estimating the total wheat yield at 406.269.000 bushels from 22,768,000 acres. LONDON MARKETS. LONDON, January 27. Wheat cargoes were steady, and Australians were nominally unchanged. - Parcels were in moderate request, and sales were macle at 53s 6d to 545. Liverpool futures: March. 10s 7£d; May, 10s 3|d; July, 10s 3|d per cental. The spot trade has been cheeked by the advance in prices. Australian, ex ship arriving, 575. Flour is steady. Australian, ex store, 435. Oats are quieter. Peas and. beans are slow. Sugar, granulated, 33s 7£d. „ , January 29. totton: February, 7.06 d per lb. Rubber: Para, 16d per lb; plantation smoked, 19Jd. Jute: February-March shipment, £3l 17s 6d per ton. Hemp: February-March shipment, £37 10s per ton. Copra: January-February shipment, £26 5s per ton. Linseed oil: £32 15s per ton. Turpentine: 52s 6d per cwtDAIRY PRODUCE. LONDON, January 27. The butter market is quiet and all” prices are unchanged except Danish which has risen to 184 s. Cheese is firm. New Zealand coloured 94s to 955, white 93s to 945. LONDON TALLOW SALES. LONDON, January 26. At the tallow sales 871 casks were offered and 223 were sold. Prices were Unchanged. ? NEW ZEALAND POTATOES. MELBOURNE, January 26. The Federal quarantine authorities have decided that the importation of New Zealand potatoes to Australia shall be prohibited from February 15, owing to the presence of corky scab in imported potatoes. AUSTRALIAN BANKING MERGER. MELBOURNE, January 25. The proposals for the amalgamation of the Bank of Victoria (Ltd.), and the Commercial Banking Company, Sydney, were approved by meetings of ordinary and preference shareholders of the Bank of Vic-' toria. PRICE OF FLOUR IN SYDNEY. SYDNEY, January 26. The price of flour for local consumption has been reduced by 10s to £l2 10s per ton. The export price is unchanged. PRICE OF FINE GOLD. LONDON, January 25. Fine gold is quoted at £4 4s 10 Ad an ounce. NEW SOUTH WALES HARVEST. SYDNEY. January 27. lhe preliminary estimate of the wheas harvest for the State is 50.223,000 bushels, an average of 15.1 bushels per acre, which is 31 per cent, better than the average for the past 10 seasons, and is an increase ot nearly 7,000,000 bushels over the previous harvest. AUSTRALIAN BANK MERGER. PERTH, January 28. lhe Western Australian Bank has been absorbed by the. Bank of New South M ales. The price is stated to be £1.900,000 representing nearly 55s per share. A meeting of shareholders is being held to ratify the merger. '

BRITISH-INDIA NAVIGATION COMPANY. LONDON, January 27. The British India Steam Navigation Company voted to increase the capital to £3,700,000 by the creation of 10,000 5g per cent, cumulative preference shares of £lOO each. The directors later decided to issue the new shares forthwith, and also a similar amount which was authorised in ,1924. P. AND O. SHARES. I LONDON, January 27.' i P. and O. shares are quoted at £2577. j LONDON SHARE-MARKET. 5 LONDON, January 25. Bank of Australasia £l4; Bank of New South Wales £44 10s; Union Bank £l4 15s (ex div.); National Bank of Australasia, 1755; National Bank of New Zealand 110 s; Bank of New Zealand four per cents. £9O, shares 57s 6d; New Zealand Loan and Mercantile debentures £73 10s, stock £92 10s. AUSTRALIAN STATE LOAN. _ LONDON, January 26; The Australian Press Association understands that an Australian State loan is imminent in London. AUSTRALIAN MARKETS. MELBOURNE, January 27. ’ Wheat, 5s 2gd to 5s 3d. Flour, £l3; cash, 5s concession. Oats: Milling,. 2s 2d; feed, 3s. Barley: English malting, 4s to 4s 3d; Cape, 3s 8d to 3s 9d; feed—English 3s 4d to 3s sd, Cape 3s Id. Potatoes, £7 10s to £9. Onions, £3 to £3 10s. At the hide sales the market was firm. Medium and light advanced 3d to id bull kips declined |d to id. SYDNEY, January 27. 1 Wheat, 4s 7d, at country stations—< equal to 5s 2-Jd, ex truck, in Sydney. < Flour is £l2 10s. Oats: White Giants, 4s 3d; Algerians, 4s. Maize, 7s 9d to 7s lOd. Potatoes: Tasmanian, £l7 to £lB per ton; Victoria, £l7; new local, £l7 to £2O. Onions, £7. ADELAIDE, January 27. Wheat: Growers’ lots, 5s Ijd to 5s 2d; parcels (sellers), 5s 3-ld. " Oats, 2s 4d to 2s 6d per bushel. , — LONDON WOOL MARKET. LONDON, January 24. At the wool sales the selection comprised chiefly merinos suitable for the Continent, a large proportion being speculators wools. Other sorts were in small supply. Competition continued keen, and prices were fully firm compared with the opening rates. New Zealand clips, “Para,” top 17d, average 15id; “Waipaoa,” 17-£d and 16£d. The Bradford market is toneless, and quotations unchanged, but the market ia not reacting to the higher wool prices. Bradford trade circles are puzzled to dis* cover the motive underlying considerable Dutch purchases of woollens and their de-,' livery in Holland, whence they are shipped to Australia on board Dutch steamers. January 25. At tho wool sales there was a good general selection, and competition was keen. Prices were very firm. New Zea* land “C.M.” realised 18d. January 26. At the wool sales there was a good general selection, and the keenest competition. Prices all round were fully 5 per cent, above the December closing rates. New Zealand offerings: “Hoata,” 19Jd and 18Jd; “Aohanga,” 14:ld and 13|d. January 27.. At the wool sales there was a splendid selection of super merinos, but a limited offering of other sorts. Prices were fully maintained. A New Zealand lot, “Waipatoa,” sold up to 16d and made an. aver* age of 15d. ' - ■ ■ The Bradford tops market was firm, but' business was extremely slow, not respond* ing to the present high prices for wooL, Quotations were unchanged. January 28. At the wool sales there was a good selection of greasy crossbreds, but a limited supply of merinos. Competition was keenest in all quarters, and prices were fully maintained. New Zealand: “Moastone,” top 16d, average 15*d; Wha« kapuni, 17d and 16dMELBOURNE WOOL SALES. 1 MELBOURNE, January 25. The wool sales ended with a strong de* mand, which was well distributed, value* ruling on a par with last week’s closimf rates. . BRISBANE WOOL SALES. 1 BRISBANE. January 28. .Ihe fourth series of wool sales concluded with no change in the market compared: >

with the previous sales, but competition Was more restricted, resulting in heavier withdrawals. GORE STOCK SALE. (From Our Own Correspondent-) GORE, January 25. The fortnightly stock sale was held at - the Gore Corporation yards on Tuesday in ■ line weather. There was a fair attendance of farmers. Fat Sheep.—A yarding of 186 were forward. and included some good quality wethers, but in most cases values were not up to vendors’ expectations, and the bulk of the entry was passed in. A fine lot of ;15 two-ftoth wethers, nicely furnished, were sold by J. E. Watson and Co. (Ltd.) on behalf of Mr Kilpatrick (Charlton) at 29s 3d, the purchaser being Mr Alex. Noble (“Verdlea,” Gore). The only lot of fat ewes’forward realised 13s. A couple of pens . of fat lambs bred and fattened by Mr Kilpatrick were also disposed of at 24s 3d. Store Sheep.—The offering comprised 400, the majority being ewes and lambs, for which there was no demand at auction, but sales were afterwards made privately at up to 12s. A . pen of ewe lambs realised 20s 6d, and a line of fat and forward lambs changed hands at the same figure. Fat Cattle.—Some 30 head were penned, and included good quality bullocks, cows, and heifers. The demand was good . throughout, and prices were firm. Prime well-finished bullocks were disposed of at from £lO to £l2 2s 6d, the latter price being obtained by Dalgety and Co. (Ltd.) for Mr W. Scott (“Pine Grove,’’ Mataura)'. Other well-finished bullocks sold on behalf of Mr R. Martin (Otama) by Wright, Stephenson, and Co. (Ltd.) realised up to . £l2. Medium-weight bullocks realised from £5 10s to £9 ss. Extra good fat cows made good competition, and realised from £8 12s • 6d to £9 10s, and lighter sorts from £4 2s 6d to £6. An extra prime barren heifer realised £lO 10s, and other good mediums realised from £5 2s 6d to £7 10s. Store Cattle.—ln the store pens 26 head were offered. A pen of nicely-bred two-year-old steers failed to reach the vendor’s reserve, and were passed in at £5 7s 6d„ Spring- cows and heifers realised from £3 to £6. Cows in milk changed hands at up to £6, store cows to £1 15s, and a bull £5 10s.

WELLINGTON GAS COMPANY. WELLINGTON, January 25. The fifty-seventh annual report of the Wellington Gas Co. to be presented on February 8 states that after the payment of the interim dividend of 4 per cent, on the ordinary shares the year’s dividend : on the preference shares, providing for depreciation of plant, buildings, and machinery, also for reserve and profit and loss, the balance amounts to £35,277 Os sd, which it is proposed to appropriate as follows:—Pay a further dividend of 4 per cent, (mailing 8 per cent, for the year), £11,152 8s; and to carry forward the balance of £24,124 12s sd.

THE DOMINION RUBBER COMPANY , . (LTD.-),._ • The secretary of The Dominion Rubber Company has received advice from the estate that the crop of rubber harvested Jpx December was 23,5001 b,

A.M.P. SOCIETY. Cabled advice from Sydney states that the A.M.P. Society’s ordinary new business for 1926 amounted to £13,978,163, and the industrial business to £3,786,183, making a total of £17,764,346. These figures show increases of £226,522 and £206,254 in the respective departments as compared with 1925, andvare records for the society. The New Zealand branch handled £3,132,668 in the ordinary department and £567,371 in the industrial department, and accounted' for £241,097 of the total increase of £432,776 for the whole society.

NAPIER GAS COMPANY. annual report of the directors of the Napier Gas Company, Limited, states that an interim dividend of 3 per cent, on ordinary and preference shares was paid- to June 30 last. It is now recommended that a further dividend of 5 per cent, be paid on ordinary shares, and that £2OOO be appropriated from profit and loss account and transferred to plant replacement reserve fund, the amount to be invested in New Zealand inscribed stock. The sales of gas, coke, and tar showed an increase over the previous year. 11ftre has been a big demand during the year for gas appliances, particularly gas cookers. The company’s business continues to expand, especially at Hastings. The amounts on deposit with the company are considerably less than the amount on deposit at the corresponding period last year. It is the policy of the directors to reduce the deposits gradually and they are consider-' ing the most suitable way of effecting such reduction.

Last week. This Week £ s. d. £ s. d Imperial Consols, 2} p.c. 55 15 0 55 10 0 War loan, 5 p.c., 1929-49 101 15 0 101 2 6 War loan, 3J p.c., 1925-28 99 17 6 99 17 6 Conversion loan, 31 p.c. 76 12 6 76 5 0 C’wealtb. 6 p.c., 1931-41 100 12 6 100 15 0 C’wealtb 5J p.c., 1922-27 103 10 0 103 10 0 N.Z. 6 p.c., 1936-51 ... 106 7 6 106 2 6 N.Z. 4 p.c.. 1929 98 2 6 93 2 6 N.Z. 3J p.c.. 1940 86 2 6 86 2 6 N.Z. 3 p.c.. 1945 77 0 0 77 0 0 N.S.W. 6J p.c., 1930-40 101 5 0 101 3 9 N.S.W. 6 p.c., 1930-40 101 2 6 101 0 6 N.S.W. 5J p.c., 1922-32 100 5 0 100 7 6 N.S.W. 4 p.c.. 1933 ... 90 10 0 90 7 6 N.S.W. 3 p.c., 1935 ... 81 10 0 81 12 6 N.S.W. 31 p.c., 1930-50 71 2 6 71 5 0 Vic. 5 p.c. 1930-40 101 17 6 101 0 0 Vio. 4J p.c., 1932-42 ... 99 12 6 99 15 0 Vic. 4J p.c., 1940.-60 ... 94 7 6 94 5 0 Vio. 3 p.c., 1929-49 ... 76 15 0 76 10 0 Vie 3.1 p.c., 1929-49 ... 71 0 0 70 15 0 Q’land. 3 p.c., 1922-47 100 17 6 101 0 0 Q’land 3J p.c., 1930 ... 93 0 0 93 5 0 Q’land 6 p.c., 1930-40 67 10 0 67 2 6 S.A. 6 J p.c., 1930-40 102 0 0 102 0 0 S.A. 3$ p.o., 1939 82 0 0 82 12 6 S.A. 3 p.c., 1916 or after 59 5 0 59 2 6 W.A. 6 p.c.. 1930-40 101 10 0 101 2 6 W.A. 3 J p.c., 1920-35 88 0 0 87 10 0 W.A 3 p.c., 1915-35 ... 84 10 0 84 10 0 Tas. 6J p.c.. 1930-40 102 12 6 102 12 6 Tas. 3J p.c., 1920-40 ... 83 2 6 83 0 0 Tas. 3 p.c.. 1920-40 ... 77 0 0 77 0 0