BRITISH TRADE.

Hokitika Guardian, 10 April 1929, Page 5

BRITISH TRADE.

AN OPTIMISTIC TONE

'United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright).

LONDON, April 6. The Stock Exchange resumed business alter the Easter holidays in a cheerful mood and continued throughout the week with an optimistic tone. ' marently the position in New York is being viewed with less, anxiety and there is a tendency to regard the monetary outlook more hopefully, especially as the Bank c.f England continues to acquire more gold. The most satisfactory feature is the pronounced recovery of gilt-edged stocks, which are firmer all round, and another good market is home rails, but industrials have had a dull time, speculators seeming to have retired for the time being.

COPPER. This week’s sharp drop in copper quotations is attributed in some quarters to the action of the Washington authorities in regard to the Oil Trust’s proposed restriction of the output o ! ‘ oil, as it is feared that a similar course may he taken with regard to copper, and the price-fixing powers of the large American producers be curtailed.. As long as apprehensions on this score exist uncertain conditions may be expected in the copper market.

APPLES. First arrivals of Western Australian and New Zealand apples found an unsatisfactory market. The demand lor them has been extremely disappointing. To some extent, perhaps, it ?s due to the condition of the fruit, for Western Australians brought in the Euripides were decidedly lacking in colour, and some New Zealands, especially Cox’s, showed considerable bitter pit, hut the chief cause of the poor demand is the presence on the market of large supplies of American apples. Arrivals of these in the last week in March amounted to over 300,000 boxes. Future arrivals will be on a smallei scale, but there will he fair quantities of Americans available for several weeks.

BUTTER. The butter market remains disappointing. Traders were hoping that an improvement would come after the Easter holidays, but their hopes have not been realised. This is largely due to the weakness of Continental markets. especially Germany, where production is reported to be 30 per cent in excess of the corresponding period of 1928. Consequently the German demand for Danish has practically ceased to exist and the surplus production of Denmark has been shipped here, with the result that prices have slumped. The only satisfaction to be found is that the Danish butter quoted to-day is a shilling or two lower than New Zealand 'fall wholesale prices, which enabled the retailers to lower the prices over the counter, and with the best colonial now obtainable at 20d a pound, consumption is improving, as the homo supplies are likely to be backward owing to the cold spell in February and March, and the lack of rain. Importers are hopeful that consumption will increase sufficiently to enable them to clear colonial supplies as they arrive Fortunately there is no great accumulation of stocks at present, and though prospective arrivals are large a moderate expansion of the demand ought to absorb them.