FINANCE AND TRADE.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 October 1923, Page 4

FINANCE AND TRADE.

BRITISH REVIEW. AUSTRALIAN AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION. LONDON, September 21). The principal feature of interest on I : the Stock Exchange during the past . j week has been the buoyancy of French * bonds, following the collapse of passive | resistance in the Ruhr. ! The news of Germany’s surrender led i to a general recovery of prices, and a I rapid improvement- in the value of the : French franc* gave a sharp impetus to French bonds of all kinds, the movement being stimulated by a good de- ! maud from Paris. The strength, however. has not been fully maintained for ii is recognised that France bus yet to solve her economic problems and i Germany's payment of reparations may j bo further delayed by the unsetth d [ state of affairs there. | Even German bonds showed some ' signs of recovery early in the week. ; possibly on aecoum of the abandonment ' of pas-ivc resistance, but more pl'obi ably the buying; of German throe per j cents which took place was attribut-

able to hopes that the institution of the new German currency would imelvc favourable treatment for loan holder.-. Victoria's loan success bad a stimulating effect on the gilt-edged market but the talk of other loans coming caused gill-edged.- to do e slightly below. The bo-i industrials nave been brisk, with quire an extensive boom iu tea shares. In t!i" foreign exchange market, the chief feature Ims been the improvement in Allied currencies, which, though not fullv maintained, is decidedly welcome Tin* recovery in French francs is attributed largely to sentiment and the reaction was rpiite a natural sequence . after the first wave of optimism arming from Germany’s surrender had

passed away. The German exchange—fiTictnai.es daily in humlj'eiJ.S— of marks hut "quotations are quite normal. A good illustration of the degradation ol the mark was witnessed in London streets "hero Hu* gutter merchants arc selling genuine 103.0dd mark notes loi twopence each or a million maiks tor sixpence. DAIRY PRODUCE. The butter market gdls stronger every day. The aetual stocks oi best, flatter here are very small and for the next two months little can arrive from Australia and New Zealand. Danish production is rapidly decreasing, arrivals from there being now only a little more than half what they were in the summer. Britain is faced with ii, shortage of supplies and the general expectations is that prices v *kl harden still further. Retailers will probably raise their price to two shillings per lb next week, but it is not expected that this increase will have much effect on the consumption. The cheese position is very strong. New Zealand is practieally cleared Horn the importers’ hands and there is only one small lot still to arrive. English and Scottish makes have been sold out six weeks earlier than last year and mostly have been consumed by now. Canadian stocks here and in Canada arc estimated as the same as last v ,.:,i The market there is very linn and Drives are advancing. Britain’s eiiii.-nniptiuu is estimated at about ,’iOd.ObO full-sized cheeses a month and a considerable shortage is probable for tin* next two months, so the prices for Canadian and any New Zealand held over are expected to harden. THE TV i *HI, MARKET. Willing on Ho* *■"";*! outlook, a wePkitu'.vn authority *-: y-: —1 a king a broad vie", ilm inline is reudeiod somewhat ohseii!',. became of the eoulim i*;l depression at Home. Tlmro i-eoiisidef-able, improvement iu - c domam! for < f -d*- • I sm i-. hut 'll o ;i for merino, is still ipiito absent. J bis causes giv’t c* ocel li, dim to the < mi*

tinned depression ol the line worsted Hade. The general contention that ] ;irt of this is line to price-, being too high 1, open to question. It is doubtful "lieihor there would he any inerca.-e in trade if pri es were lower lor raw material. “Meanwhile, the trend .-earns to lie tawaids inrrea-ing the ns<* oi ith—Prods, especially in medium grades. In twV fouling liio jsr*-it igi »i m merinos will depend very' largely on the rongili or ot he. wise ot the Ansoiioan demand, the issue of which is not vet .gear. It is practically certain tlmi bath inei imis and crossbreds will h** ioquii'cd by America in cousid.,*; able quantity, especially d their mills can be fully employed, its icenix probable. "'lice financial position of the Home market is widely vaiied at the raw iiut’ccri'i! end. Credit is exceptionally goud, but ilier,. is still linanciid strin-

gruev and difficulty el the piece goods .■mi, e-poeially in the lnerchniitiiig section.’’