BRITISH TRADE

Hokitika Guardian, 1 June 1932, Page 3

BRITISH TRADE

FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW

DEPRESSING INFLUENCES,

LONDON, May 28.

The strong position of the Stock Exchange, ; which was mentioned; a fortnight ago, unfortunately has not been maintained for this . week,. ... The succession of untoward ~events has caused weakness all round, and. the markets closed yesterday in a. state of doubt and uncertainty, regarding the future: Among the factors contributing to' this state of depression are the rumours of an emergency,.Budget, with possihi’ities of fresh taxation, the anj nouncement that Britain ,is -paying, her war debt td the United States in full, the adverse rumours (since denied) about certain Canadian -financial in-. stitutiVms,' and Austria’s declaration of a moratorium on her foreign debts, which is regarded as an indication that rlie whole of Central Europe is drifting to economic chaos. In the face of all these depressing influences prices generally were markr ed down, especially industrial aqd foreign bonds, and even gilt-edgeds had a setback through this, mainly due to the heavy -profit-taking, which commenced as soon as the rumours of an emergency Budget were current. In this state of affairs it is satisfactory to be able to record that Australian Government stocks are maintaining their recent recovery, and any occasional slight, relapses are due to profittaking,, for which there are .ample opportunites, as many of these are now quoted £lO to £ls higher-'than in the third week of April. . The brightest spot on the Stock Exchange now is the market for West Australian gold mining shares. -‘These have been in strong demand and many buying orders, are coming from . Australia.

APPLES

Although the supplies of Australian and New Zealand apples on - the.. London market have been very large, tho prices have not given way -to any great extent, but some anxiety is:-ex-pressed regarding th e next fortnight, when over 1,000,000 cases are ldrie to arrive, and it will he surprising if values are maintained. Fortunately the. cold weather has retarded the growth of isoft fruits and there are n,ot likely to be many strawberries available juist vet. Tbe Hamburg market has been hardlv as good as importers honed for Australian apples.

THE TRADE POSITION

I Tbe “Economist’s” review of the trade position is somewhat pessimistic. A writer points out that, at :.the moment British industry is experiencing the same seasonal Hull as,: it used to experience every May during the years of relative prosperity that ended in 1929. ' ‘‘The., question is-how far this setback can legitimately be regarded as .seasonal,” he says. “Taking a broad view of the position at home and abroad, it is perhaps true to say that British trade and industry are on the balance. They have held their own since the suspension of the gold standard. They have not, however, recovered any of the ground previously lost, and it must also be admitted that abroad the! situation has seriously deteriorated during the same period and is still rapidly deteriorating. 'lt thus is a question of how long British industry will be able to avoid being dragged down by the steadily declining trend of world act, ivity for unless the trend of events abroad i-s rapidly reversed, the home trade will not be able to hold out for long. It is by no means certain that to-day’s lull is not the beginning of n major recession.”

WOOL MARKET.

The Australian Wool Council’s representative, Mr W. Devereux, reports that the general economic and political situation of Europe continues to be very difficult and uncertain, and appears to be gradually reaching a more acute stage. Confidence in. trading circles is non-existent everywhere, and the tendency is noticeable to mark time pending developments. The sales in London have continued fair with general competition, hut Merinos, although in small supply, have shown a- slightly easier tendency and now are generally about 5 per cent, below April closing rates. 1 Crossbreds are in fair demand at opening rates. Withdrawals of all sorts are fairly extensive and there is a very dull market for cross-bred yarns, with prices slightly in favour of buyers. The position lias not improved and most of the mills are working ikhort time, with the exception of a few specialty yarns. • The exporters are unable to do business with Great Britain. even at the reduced tariff, owing to the exchange rates. The sales of tops in Germany continue very low owing to the' uncertain political and economic dut'ook. Quotations arc unchanged. The futures markets at Antwerp and Roubnix are quiet and quotations have dropped nearly 5 per cent. ■ during the last week.