COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1664, 3 February 1913, Page 8

COMMERCIAL ITEMS.

INVESTMENT SHARES. V A. salo of Union Steam ehftTcs at 475. was tho only transaction recorded in investment shares on Saturday. The quotations were, ae under:— 1 / , ' Buyers. Sellers^ . £ s~. d. £ b. d Bank New Zealand ......... — .11 6 0 National Bank — 6 2.6 N;Z. Loan and Merc. (10s.) 0 9 0 — ' N.Z. and River Plato — . 2,10 Foilding Gas — 10 3 ■Napier Gas (£10) • — 20 0. 0 Napier Gas (£5) — 10 0 0 B.U. Insurance — Jl4 0 Union Steam 2 6 9 Well. Woollen (ord.) — . 3 16 6 Well. Woollen (pref.) ....., — 2 17 3 Westport Coal • 17 6 — - Leyland-O'Brien ....." 17 ' 0 : — • Golden Bay Cement 10 6. . N.Z. Drug — .' 210 0. Sharl&nd's ordinary — 1 1 0 Ty.F.c.A'.. ' ...i..:..:.;.....:....... - '7-50 , , LONDON MONEY MARKET. . • ' The usual end-of-the-month stringency is to. bo noted in tho Bank of England figures. The market has. borrowed rather ..heavily from the. Bank for the "other securities" in tho , Banking Department have gone up from £31,751,000 to £35,040,000. The stock of gold has increased by £6CO,CCO, but tho reserve has declined, and the proportion of reserve to liabilitiea has fallen by over 2 points. There is obviously a' temporary stringency, for short loans are quoted at 4} to 5 per cent. A dear, money market for some time, to come seems inevitable for, apart from the demands of Governments and municipalities for loans, tho demands for trade -purposes are exceptionally large. Trade is very brisk in Great Britain, and higher prices are ruling for raw materials. Manufacturers have to find more money to run thoir plants, but, on tho other hand, profits are large.

CUSTOMS. - Customs duties collected at the port of Wellington on Saturday amounted to £1275 12s. 6a., tho total for tho week being £13,912 13a. Tho return for cach of tho past eight Weeks, compared "with the figures for tho.corresponding periods of tho previous year, show as under :— ' . , 1912-13. 1911-12. . !• December 14 12,821 18,858 ; December 21 1.. 26,501 15,579 December 28 5,968 12,535 January 1 18,051 15,434 January U 20,057 24,024 • January 18 21,491 13,807 : January 25 28491 21.468Febrnary 1 13,912 12,125 146,992 135,830 Th< beer duty collected for the week totalled £199 10a., as against £371 18s.' 7d. for tho corresponding week of last year, : The monthly returns of Customs and beer duty comparo as under:— Jan., 1913. Jan., 1912. £ e. d. £ s. d. Customs ... 96,827 2 4 84,856 14 8 Beer duty 1,207 16 9 990 11 10 MARKET STATISTICS. - By Teleerapk—Press Association—Copyright (Eec. February 2, 5.5 p.m.) London, February 1. Tin.—Stocks total 14,875 tons; on spot, 704 tons j afloat, 4855 tons; deliveries, 2667 tons. . ' Tallow.—Stock, 3114' tons; imports, 2436 tons; deliveries, 2789 tons. , LONDON MARKETS. "" (Rec. February 2, 5.5 p.m.) London, February 1. New Zealand Hemp.—Tho market is firm. January-March shipments are quoted at £34 10s. per ton. Jute.—Native first marks, FebruaryMarch shipment, £26 12s. 6d. per - ton. . Rubber.—Fino hard Para -rubber is quoted at te. 314. per lb. Copra is in good demand. South Sea, bagged, £27 15s. per ton. Cotton.—February-March shipments of American middling cotton are Quoted at 6.631 d. per lb.

MANUFACTURED METALS. (Eec. February 2, 5.5 p.m.) London, February 1. Galvanised iron, first brands, £16 15s. per ton (a fall of £1 per ton Bitico January 4): second brands, £14 15s. (fall of 10s.). Tin-plates.—l.C. coke, 15s, Mid. lower); I.C. charcoal, 16s. (4*d. lower). Fencing wire is quoted at £9 ss. per ton. Anglo steel, £7 ss. per ton (2s. (d. higher). Tram raile, £5 17s. per ton (Is. higher). Wire-netting. 55 per cent, off list. Cement—German, ss. ljd. (lid. lower).