COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1563, 5 October 1912, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHAKES. j\. sale of Wellington Woollen preference shares at £2 17s. 6(1. was the only transaction recorded in investment shares yesterday. Tile buying and selling quotations were' as under;— Buyers. Scllcr». £ s. d. £ s. d Bank New Zealand — 11 4 0 National Bank : 6 10 6 2 6 Equitable Building — 9 17 6 N.Z. and liivcr Plate - 2 2 0 Woll. Trust and Loan ... — ' 710 0 Christchurch Gas 7 15 0 - Well. Gas (£10) -■ 18 0 0 Well. Gas (prcf.) 10 0 10 9 National Insurance — 2 0 0' Meat Export (£5) — 6 3 6 Meat Export (£4) — 5 0 0 Meat Export (525. 61!.). ... - 3 0 0 Well. Woollen (ord.) 3 14 0 -> Well. Woollen (pref.) - 2 17 9 Westport-Stockton 0 4 0 — Lcylaud-O'Brien — '17 0 C. M. Banks, Ltd - 10 6 Golden Bay Cement 10 6. ■ — FINANCIAL TROUBLES. The war scare in the Balkans has caused heavy financial losses to innocent investors, and German and Austrian speculators appear to have suffered most. The losses can hardly be recovered, and the trouble to one section of the community must reflect on others in .widely remote localities. The entire world will, to some extent, feel the effects of the heavy losses incurred. The London Stock Exchange is reported to be in u. nervous state, and there has been heavy selling of foreign bonds. If hostilities can be confined to the Balkans they are not likely to last long, as none of the belligerents have the funds or the credit to maintain a prolonged war. The Bulgarian public debt exceeds £15,000,000, and the imports Amount to about £6.400,000, and tho exports to £4,450,000. Quite recently Bulgaria wished to borrow £20.C0C!,CC0 ia France, but met with a rebuff; Montenegro is a very small kingdom, and the public debt is only £250,000; the public debt of Servia is £21,470,000, about as much as the country can carry; Rumania has a debt of about £62.000,000, but this is the richest of the Balkan Slates, for its imports amount to £14,700,000, and exports to £18,602.000; Greece has a public debt of £30,000,000, and Greek finance is very poor. Tho debt of the Ottoman Government is ,£129,691,000. and the condition of Turkish finance may be judged from the following statement of Hussein Hilmi Pasha, Minister for Justice, made so recently as jVugust last:-

"ft is a secret to none that the state of our finances is far from being flourish inf. We shall only enter upon a period of fair weather when wc arc able without having recourse to loans to defray our ordinary expenditure by mcauK of our ordinary revenue, reserving loans exclusively to works and enterprises of public utility, particularly the latter. The Government will make every effort to arrive at that stage. We are adopting two means to that end, very simple ones, which constitute our financial programme. The first is to economise unceasingly. There mwt be no snunndcring, on any pretext. The second is to endeavour to attain to Budgetary cuuilibrium by increasing our revenue. We have certain projects in hand with a viewto this which have not yet taken definite shape. Hti't it cannot he regarded as a particularly provident, policy to pay interest at the rate of 7 and even 8 per cent, to obtain money to pay the salaries of officials, for instance. And it i.; n Pleasure to state that, since tho pacification has lalicii place, our financial credit is once more on the rise, and to such all extent that, it should not, he difficult for us to-day to find money on advantageous terms."

Customs duties collected at the port of Wellington yesterday amounted to X 7256 Is. 3d.

GItAIN ANT) PRODUCE. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.: Ghristchurcll, October 4. The ri»=e In the grain freights t. ; > the United Kingdom has had the effect of still further quietening the local market. The increased freight upon oats has taken away the prospective profit upon purchases made at local ruling rates, and growers are not prepared to lake lci-s for their

grain than they have been receiving. There arc few oats offering, partly newly thrcsb-

H. but, in view of the higher rate of freight there in not much demand, What grain )f boiiig shipped in the. small amount of csaco available iu Uio direct tt-cameu

is out ot store. An offer has been ninilc of it steamer to load grain next montli for West of England pons ni. 355. rreiglit, providing that 50.PC0 sacks iro hooked, and a fair ainoiuu of space bus already been applied for. There id no movemi?m, in wheat, and all lines of grain and produce, except seeds, arc dull of sale. The potato market Is quiet., with • very few offering, and £5 10s. to £6 are nominal quotation;. LONDON WOOL SALES. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright London, October i. At the wool sales, the following arc some of the prices realised for the ileeec portion* of the dips named:—"Gear," top price 155 d., average 113 d.; "GPD/NZ." 17* d. and Kid.: "OPD/M." 19rt. and 14*5(1.: 'TarurtnJe" 221 d. and 16id.: "Algidus," 22Jd. and 21,', d. A large section of New Zealand sorts, principally slipes, was offered and strongly competed for at. Ihe highest, prices of the series. Others were, unchanged. (ftcc. October 4, 10.10 p.m.) London, Octnbci 4. The following were the prices realised for the fleece portions of the clips named:— "To Kopua," top price mi., average price 123 d.; "Gore," top 13Jd., average 122 d.» "Kopatone,'' top 18d., average 17 3-Ed. Messrs. Levin and Co., Ltd., have received advices from their London agents that the following clips have been cold on their account at the sales now current. The prices named arc the average price realised for the fleece wool hi each instance, mark, locality, and price being given in that order :-AItD, Nelson, 10 3-Bd.j BS/N, 1 Nelson, 9 5-16 d.; AS/N, Nelson, 9 5-16 d.; KAISAMTJ, Marton, 911-16(1.; T. and W/M, Wnnganui 8»d.; SEAFIELD, Wanganui. 10d.; DMG, Wanganui, 9}d.; All, Wanganui, Hi.; MAEAHAU, Wanganui, 9 15-16 d. LONDON MARKETS. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Limited, and have received the following cablegram from their London house, under date October 2:—Wheat: We quote <os. 6d. c.i.f. Australian cargo. The market is firm, but inactive, owing to ,t.he political situation, and the outlook is uncertain. Oats: We quote Gartens 255., Sparrowbills 245. The market is . fair. FROZEN MEAT. Messrs. Dalgcty and Company, Limited, Wellington, have received the following cablegram from their London house, dated October 3:—Mutton and lamb: The market is very quiet, and prices are unchanged, lieef: Poor demand ot unchanged prices, but stocks ara heavy. VICTORIAN PRODUCE MARKETS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright Melbourne, October 4. Wheat. 4s. 3id. to (e. 33d.;'flour, £9 10s.; bran, £5 155.; pollard, £7: oats, stendv— New Zealand, 3s. 2d. to 3s. 4d.; maize, quiet aI, 4s. ljd. to 4s. 2d.; peas, 4s. to 4s. 4d.; potatoes, firmer at £13 to £13 10s.; onions, easier at £17. BANK OF ENGLAND RETURN, (Received October 4/10.10 p.m.) '■' London, October i. The Bank of England return issued for the week ended Wednesday, October 2, is as under:— Issue Depaiitment. Koto Issue £55,669,000 Gov.dobt ••• jU1.015.030 Other securities 7.434.000 Goli 37.410.000 £.m.859,003 j£55,859.CC0 BiXKixfi Department. Proprietors' Govt, sccuricapital £14,553,003 tics £13,333,000 Public do- Other securiposits ... 13.017.003 ties 31.203,009 Other ue- ■ posits ... 13.075.000 Kotos ... 2G.201,C0J Rest, 7-day . , and other bills... ... 3,769,000 Coin 1,199,030 £75,314,033 £75,341,000 The leading items of the Bank of England return afford the following comparison:— Thiswee'.c liasbwook. Last your ■£ ■ £ £ Bullion 37.410,033 40,'253.093 37.56i.003 Reserve 31.313.U00 27.5M.0H) Note circulation !3.&3.L0;i IB.SAS.UM '10.M1.0a Public Doposiis 1.1.947.000 1(i,b70.00i) H.3ii.OJo Other Deposits 43.070.U00 44,041.000 Ii.etM.OJO , Proportion of l'cservo Ikj liabilities... 48.74 50.39 51.15 GOVERNMENT SECDUITIE3. The following are the latest quotation) for Government, securities, with a comparison of those ruling last weok:— _ .'Variation _ . compared . Pries, with . last weok, £ s. d. i{% Imperial Consols 74 0 0 Js Cd lower 4 , N.S.W.imian.-.lulyi 101 0 0 10s lower 3i ..N.SjW.lOia.Mar.-Sep.l 97 0 0 UnchauMoil 3 ,N.5.W.1933 Apl.-Oct.; 8110 0 VJiisluiwiecl 4 ~Vie. 19-20 Jim.-July 101 0 0 Uncuansod--35 „Vic. IOJI-li Jan.-Julj-.j 95 10 0 Unchanged 3 ..Vie.lifc'J-lOJuu.-Julyi .61 0 0 Unchanged 3J „S.A. lßlli.lan.-.lnly j 01 ill 0 Unchanged 3 ,S.A. 1.113 Jah.-July |V 9 0 0 Unchanged 1 ..QTdjatj-L'J.lan.-Jdly 101 0 0 Unchanged 34 „UTdl9J!l-30Jan.-July 55 0 0 Ulichtuigod 3 „Q'l'drA!;-47Jan.-July 81 0 0 Unchanged 4 ~N.Z. 1929 Mny-Nov. 101 0 0 10s lower 34 „N.Z, 1910,1an.-Jlily 93 0 0 Ift lower 3 „N.Z. 194, r .April-Oct. 82 0 0 Unchanged 3i,, W.A.IKO-lOMay-Nov ft! fl 0 301 lower 3 ~W..\. 1915-33 May-Nov to 0 0 12 Is lower 3i „Tas. IDtOJan.-July 93 0 0 Unchanged 3 .. Tas. 1933-10 Jan.-July fcl U 0 Unchanged BANK'BATES OF DISCOUNT. The Bank of England rate was. on December 1, 1910, lowered . from 5 to 4} per cent.; on January 27 itl was lowered to 4 per cent., on February 16 to 35 per cent., and on March 9 to i per cent. On September 21 it was advanced to 4 per cent., on February 8 it was reduced to 3* per cent., and on May 9 to 3 per cent. On August 29 it wa3 raised to 4 per cent. The Bank of France rate was reduced from 3J to 3 per cent, on January 23, 1908. land continued at the latter figure, until September 21, 1911, when it was raised to 21 per cent. On May 17.'1912, it was reduced to 3 per cent. The Imperial Bank of Germany reduced its rate from 5 to 45 per cent, on February 6, and on February 19 the rate was further reduced to 4 per cent. On September 19. the rato was raised to 5 per cent.. find on June 11, 1912, it was reduced to 45 per cent. MAEKET HATES OP DISCOUNT. The following are the market rates for best three mouths' bills:— London Paris Berlin rate. rate. rate. per cent, per cent, per cent. This week 315-16 3 3j Last week 3g 2J 4 3-8 Last year 2j 3J 33 Short loans are quoted at 2: per cent., as against 2i per cent, last week, and 2J per cent, last year. COLONIAL AND OTHER PEODCOE. Wheat is steady, but quiet. Australian, per sailer, January-February shipment, 385.; Liverpool, October futures, 7s. 83d: ner cental; December, 7s. 5 3-Bd.; March, 7s. 43d.; Australian, on spot, is quiet at 425. to 435.: New Zealand, 425. Flour is firm. Australian, ox store, "Bs. Oats are firm. La. Plata, now loading, 17s. 7d. c.i.f. Butter is quiet in all quotations. There is little business doing in colonials, owing to the high prices asked; importers are unwilling to exceed, 102s. f.o.b. for Australian Sugar.—German beet, 88 per cent, net litre, 2s. sd. lower at 9e. 6d. per cwt.; first mark grauulatcd f.o.b. Hamburg, 12s. Id. Bradford Tops.—Tile market is quiet and unchanged. THE METAL MARKETS. ; Copper, on spot, £78 6s. 3d. per ton; three months, £79 lis. 3d.; electrolytic, £81 15s. Tin, on spot, 455. lowor at £229 10s. per ton; three months, £228. Lead, soft foreign, £21 se. per ton, Pig-iron, 665. 7d. per ton. Wolfram, 30s. per unit. Spelter, £27 7s. 6d. per ton.