TRADE REVIEW

Hokitika Guardian, 12 May 1926, Page 4

TRADE REVIEW

STOCK EXCHANGE CONFIDENT. LONDON, May 8. Since the strike began most of the businesses in the city have been in i.i state of suspended animation and it is dillicult to find an office where anything like activity prevails, hut tbe tone everywhere is'cheerful. There arc many evidences that London and England intend to see it through. 'I cl is spirit of determination is pi.irtieiilarly marked on the (Stuck Exchange, where, although business is stagnant, prices all round have been well maintained and there have" been no serious falls. Indeed, as one writer ■«-iys: "In the past values have given way more abruptly on rumours of dear money, or the Sovereign’s illhealth, than they have done in the present crisis.” The most marked feature,’ has been the complete absence of selling pressure on the part of the public. Oil the contrary, a leading broker in the niscellaneous market says he has a number of buying orders for any stocks going cheap, but is unable to find any. The position of the money market is also satisfatc-ory, as evidencoed by the Bank of England proportion of reserve to liability remcjining over 20 per cent, which is a clear indimtiou of the absence of any unusual monetary strain. All things considered, the strike Las had surprisingly little effect on the financial position. APPLE TRADE. The strike has brought disaster to the apple trade. There seems not the slightest possibility of the. enormous quantities of Australian and New Zea- I land apples already here and in transit being sold at ■ remunerative prices. 11l addition to 300,000 cases already .hero, a further 16,000 are duo to arrive before the end of the month. It is difficult to see how these can he marketed satisfactorily, even if the strike is over, as they will come into competition with large quantities of strawberries, cherries and other soft fruits which are already coming plentifully from the Continent. It is this consideration which has prompted fruit traders to ask the Australian Government to put an embargo on further shipments. BUTTER OUTLOOK. A somewhat similar state of affair exists in regard to butter, though supplies in this case are comparatively moderate and butter can be kept ill cold stores for a long period without serious harm. But here again Australian and New Zealand shipments when they become available, will be in competition with large supplies o! home-made and Continental butters, fair quantities of which have already arrived from Siberia and Baltic countries, whose production this season is expected to be very large.