TRADE AND FINANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 February 1926, Page 7

TRADE AND FINANCE.

IMPROVEMENTS; IN TRADE. STOCK EXCHANGE QUIET CONDITIONS IN BRITAIN Bx Telegraph—-Press Assn.—Copyright. London, Feb. 13. The Stock Exchange is in The Doldrums again, and business in the speculative department has 'been so slack that some members complain they are not doing enough to pay office expenses. There has been a considerable amount of forced liquidation, which began in the oil section and spread to other markets. There was only one actual failure, an unimportant one, but it produced a feeling of uneasiness which proved sufficient. to check enterprise in any speculative shares. The weakest features have been home railways, rubbers, oils and textiles. The dullness" spread to gilt-edged securities which have been slightly easier, 'but recovered yesterday on improved conditions in the money market. One cause of the dullness in gilt-edged securities has 'been the competition of new issues present and future. Colonials have been dull with occasional declines, the market being affected by the anticipation of fresh borrowing. New South Wales is mentioned as the first comer and the issue may be made at an early date, but apparently the amount has not yet been settled, although some newspapers say it will be a £3,506,000 five per cent, issue. WOOL PROSPECT'S BRIGHT. A gratifying indication of. Britain’s improving trade was furnished by . the chairman of; Lloyd’s Bank at the recent meeting. He said an analysis of the new'loans to the bank’s customers 'between June 1924 and June 1925 showed a total of £44,000,000 granted to every kind of industry, composed of 32 different varieties. Over £41,000,000 were granted for the purpose of -.naneing extended trade and only £2,500,000 to companies or, individuals requiring assistance to tide them over bad times or to cover trading losses. Commenting on the wool situation at the close of the first London series a well-known authority strikes an optimistic note. He says the general caution and strict hand-to-mouth trading at the reasonable level at which the raw material has now arrived, together with the small compass of stocks in the consuming centres, both in the raw and manufactured article, are all facts which not only precede but predict an early approach of confidence and a revival in business prospects. THE APPLE MARKET.

The prospects of the Australian and New Zealand apple season have been considerably improved by the publication of tho letter from the Ministry of Health regarding arsenic, for the num; crons recent prosecutions for the sale of arsenated apples had eaused something like a panic among retailers, which had been accentuated by the fact that one of the fruiterers who owns numerous shops in London had been threatened with an action for damages by a woman who asserted that she suffered arsenical poisoning as the result of eating apples purchased at one of his shops. Reports from all pai’l’R.pf the country indicate a serious falling off in the sales of apples since these prosecutions have been instituted. It has even been said that some fruiterers seriously contemplated stopping the sale of apples at their shops. Now, however, the Ministry of Health has issued a reassuring announcement, retailers are likely to take heart again and the demand for apples should improve materially.

One effect of the arsenic scare has been to cheek direct purchases by the British importer, who is unwilling to take any risk. It is also said that several purchases by German firms, which were under negotiations, have fallen through, but this appears to be due not to arsenic, but to the financial conditions in Germany making it impossible for would-be buyers to put up the necessary credits. Meantime importers and distributors here are doing their utmost to push sales and the “eat more fruit” advertising campaign, organised by the Fruit Trades Federation, which achieved much success in the last two seasons, is being carried on even more assiduously.