BRITISH TRADE.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 February 1927, Page 1

BRITISH TRADE.

fortxigfitly revieav

STOCK EXCHANGE VERY FIRAL LONDON. Feb. 12. The inherent strength of the Stock Exchange position bus been shown daring the past, fortnight, for, despite several adverse factors, most sections have remained firm with, a cheerful tone. Even when the Chinese Situation looked ugliest there was ,1.0 sign of. weakness and now that developments ill Chilli’, seem favourable, as .down by Sir Austen Chamberlain's reus airing .statement, considerable firmness is apparent. Tt, might have been expected that the reduced dividends of three great ta;fway companies would hive -.-ained depression in home rails, but the ics’i' 1 was exactly the reverse. Ever since the dividends were announced leading rail stocks have been in demand at advanced prices. Apparently *Lo operators 'are glad that they know the worst about the past. Tin' nightmare of uncertainty has been removed. A feature of this week has been the great activity in oil shares, in which enormous business has developed. Even considerable profit-taking sales failed to check the advance of prices.. With regard to the position of securities generally they now stand at the highest level since the war. The “Bankers’ Afagaziite.’’ in its monthly valuation of 365 representative securities. shows that they appreciated durian- the four weeks ended January 16 bv""no less than £120.000.660. WOOL INDUSTRY.

According lo a report received by the Overseas Trade Department from its commercial counsellor in Paris the French wool industry in its manufacturing capacity has completely recovered from the seven' damage suffered in the war. The report adds:—Tlie indtlstrv received a considerable accession of strength by the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine. Several minor centres have undergone great development, and in many places new wool-working factories have sprung up. the last six veals of prosperity have furthermore enabled manufacturers to lay firm foundations for their enterprises and to write off considerable liabilities incurred for new cat! struct ion and plant and to form adequate reserves. DAIRY PRODUCE. The butter position shows little change. There is only a limited demamf for New Zealand, buv’ers apparently preferring Australian at aboil! ei'dit "shillings a hundredweight less monev. A satisfactory feature of the trade is the steady demand tor stores and lower grade butters, which has icsulted in a great reduction of the heavy stocks which filled the cold stores at the commencement of the season. Airivals from overseas are beginning to decline, imports in January being 475,741 cwt, compared with 672.651 for

the previous January. So there does not seem much likelihood of any relapse in values for some time, especially as the Continental markets are very firm. WINE TRADE. The unfairness to Australia or the proposed restriction on the clearances of wine, even in an amended form, is illustrtited by the official statistics of clearances in January, which amounted to 161.773 gallons, compared with 87.076 in January. 1026. This great increase is undoubtedly partly due to the bitrli price of spirits, and therefore it is interesting to note that Scottish distillers are confidently 'anticipating a reduction in duty in the forthcoming Budget. It is said that they expect the duty to be reduced from 72s 6d to 50s a proof gallon. This would enable the retail price of whisky to he reduced by about half a crown a Little from the present retail price. 12s fid. Such a reduction would proFanbly cause a material increase in the consumption and the distillers’ view is that the increase will result in a greater yield to the revenue than at present. Tl remains to be seen whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer -accepts this view. The Empire Afarketing Board is actively pursuing a propaganda campaign with results which appear satisfactory. The latest development is the securing of the largest and most central position in the British Advertising Exhibition to he held in July at Olympia in*connection with the Advertising Associations’ Convention, which will he attended by 2000 experts from all parts of the world. The board is arranging to make the finest display of Australian produce yet seen in London, and the exhibit is likely to obtain a great amount of publicity.