BRITAIN’S DOMESTIC OUTLOOK.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, 28 April 1925, Page 6

BRITAIN’S DOMESTIC OUTLOOK.

( Returning Gold Standard. STOCK EXCHANGE CHEERFUL. I By table—Press Association—Copyright* Austraiiuu and N.Z, Cablo Association ! i LONDON, April 25. ‘ ! The Stock Exomtnge c.osea yester-. • day in a decidedly c-neeriui frame' ot ; mind, after a weex of steady lniproVeI meat. ■ * '' ' members’ view regarding Tuesday s Budget became increasingly optimistic i- througJiout the weelc, ana the auticii pation that there Will be some relief ii-cm taxation is now 'general. 'This i feeling has . been -. reflected by an appreciable hardening of prices in most markets, and a good professional demand has arisen, especially for giltedges, in anticipation of , Strong inquiry from the public'next week; One weak spot Inti been the Home, railways group, wherein prices ' i declined seriously owing to fears ,of ■ labour . troubles, ,but. the prevailing" ’ optimism spread evert to; this market, Si and there was. some recovery yesteT--1 day. '.' : ( : t':" , -

Sterling Stronger. / •! The outstanding feature of ! 'the foreign'exenange market has been'the steady improvement of the sterling in New Fork, which to-day stands at the , highest point recorded since the war. the strength of the market genoi- ' ally is attnouted to anticipation that'sMr Church ill will announce in the Budget a return to the gold standard, iuere .are ‘also reports from New York that a group of American banks > is prepared to lorm a credit of iuO,i)uo,UUU dollars to insure the Bank of England reserve \ against any risk , which majHffrove . incidental to ' the. , free movement of gold on this side. ' it is pointed out that the substantial interests of American linance all favour a real monetary, workffig 1

alliance w-ith this country, and keeping ; the sterling at parity . when _ oiice it ‘ r> . reaches there. 1 ■ a

" Demand for Metals. " According to tho report or a leading ?•' i metal broxulg firm .iuero is evidence i ttiat the wave dr depression -which passed oyer the non-rerrous metal uiarxet, following on fast December's . exaggerated optimism, is losing force,' ana (there is a suggestion , tnat (the. boted/n i*iS been readied. During the , lust few' days ! a great, chungp has come over rue temper of tne markets, and signs of returning confidence have .. been evident. ■ u in connection with the metal trade,,' •• German trade papers report, ■, that' , a, Berlin correspondent- points' out that, ' , German trade papers report that Eng- v hsh metal firms are acquiring interests• in old-established German enterprises.V It will be • remembered what an . outcry ' there was when • the outbreak of ■ ■ vvar revealed that- the world’s- metal 1 trado was • in the hands of, the ') , German!; It appeals that the tables ' are now being turned. ' ,■ Wool Outlook. Tlie event or • tne weex was the visit / of a deputation from the VVopi and: j textile Association 1 to tne Committee 1 i on •industry and trade,. when niipprt--ant evidence- was .submitted,' by 'iii- ’T huentiai witnesses., :• i • , 5 .. V’ 'TBe'"'"principal- difficulties arising from tho external cucumstafices .were: said to be tne uncertainty or tne raw. j - material position and the heavy iliic- ; j tualions in wool values during tne fist ' ; tnree or four years,; also doiiipetitiou; - from 1 countries with depreciated . ■currencies’... • >••«-.;.•• M ” , • "HiCre is also competition from, new)-' ' ) countries, /itaiy,. tor- ..example',', actively ;. •' ! Competing' for the • i foreign maiiuets,;'. and. Japan is bent upon establishing • • the woof industry of. Her owp.. • v ' Members of. tne .delegation said it. ' 'was evident- that the consumption. jOf'y wool and substitutes had ,’y during the- past three or four ‘years, ' and that machinery -activity was ' : gradually recovering from the sub- " normal -position ill the great slump;,' of 1921, while the turnover in iniamte • factured goods is greater. There is i still, howeveir, . much leeway to up before the pre-war volume of trade is reached, but; witnesses said it was . , j true that the whole the actual . improvement in turnover .had been asgood in ..England as in any other textile-producing country. Our per- < i centage of the total world" trade' in wool textiles is at least equal' to the pre-war figures. y Outlook for Industries. The, Federation of British Industries - will publish next week its quarterly ' forecast. This will point out that : while last October’s prediction 'of improvement in trade is being .ful- ; filled as regards the -world as a whole, the improvement so far as-Britain is concerned has been disappointing, But there is no need to be pessimistic. Certainly the position "of 'British CttnStitutional trades l is serious, hilt "this I also is true of some trades throughout 1 Europe, much of the trouble being due . to the existence of temporary /over- ' expansion of capacity, in the case:'- of iron \aiid steel shipbuilding and the substitution of oil for coal in the. coal mining industry,'. but in contrast with these positions ,the manufacturing trades generally show a substantial improvement, both at Homo and abroad.