DEPRESSION ON EXCHANGE

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1929, Page 9

DEPRESSION ON EXCHANGE

GILT-EDGED MARKET WEAK POLITICAL INTERFERENCE PROPOSALS IN AUSTRALIA By Telegraph—Preee Assn. —Copyright. Rec. 5.5 p.m. London, Nov. 30. The Stock Exchange has been passing through another period of idleness and depression and all sections have failed to maintain the improvement which followed the lowering of the bank rate last week. Gilt edged securities were adversely affected by the incursion of Mr. Tom Shaw into the realms of finance, and though the Chancellor of the Exchequer repudiated his colleague’s threats -against war loan holders there is still a feeling of uneasiness about the gilt edged markets. Industrials have been very dull. The collapse of the H. S. Horne Company, although it did not come exactly as a surprise, is having the effect of further depressing an already weak market.

The effect of the Wall Street slump on the London Stock Exchange, show's by the latest valuation of public securities made by the Bankers’ Magazine that aggregate values of 265 representative securities declined in the month ending November 18 4.6 points, but it is interesting to note that high-class investment stocks weathered the storm excellently. There is certainly a nominal drop in British funds, but this is explained by the fact that the half-yearly dividend on war loans has been deducted from the price. •Banking circles in London are displaying considerable interest in the proposals made by Mr. E. G. Theodore in introducing the Commonwealth Bank Amendment Bill, and the views expressed by some bankers are reflected in the criticisms of financial newspapers. Thus the Financial Times describes one passage of Mr. Theodore’s speech as carrying a threat of direct official interference in financial matters which definitely accords with the Socialistic view that banking policy is a national matter and as such should be directed by the Government, but this was likely to be viewed elsewhere with considerable misgiving. The Financial Times continues: The Government is undoubtedly faced with a difficult situation, partly a legacy from the past; partly the outcome of forces impossible to control. The great need of the moment is an improvement in the country’s trade position, but that will not be brought any nearer by tampering with the recognised machinery of international commerce.

The Financial News says: Everybody is agreed that the concentration of gold in the hands of the Commonwealth Bank is a highly desirable development and in full accord’with modern principles. What is open to criticism is the Government’s intention to take the power to suspend the free export of gold, or at least reserve the right to veto any gold shipment of which it disapproves. It would be highly regrettable were another British Dominion to imitate Canada’s example in playing tricks with the gold standard. The immediate cause of the efflux of gold from Australia is the adverse trade balance, and but for the unsettled conditions of .the international financial markets the gap could easily be filled by borrowing in London. The adverse conditions will not last forever; in fact, there is reason to hope for a change for the better before long, so it would be a very short-sighted policy to take emergency measures of a nature to react permanently on the country’s credit.