Markets.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 564, 31 March 1858, Page 3

Markets.

WELLINGTON.

On Tuesday, there were three auctions, the first by Messrs. Bathune & Hunter, who sold 4 7

bales of wool; 21, at Is. 6d.; 24. at Is. sfd.; i lambs' (in grease.) at lid.; and 1 do., at 91. p-r

lb.; rates that certainly evince great spirit on the part of buyers, especially after recent English advices. The next sale in order was by Mr. Allen, who sold a quantity of sundries and-a house in Abel Smith street, the latter realising £140. Messrs. Johnston & Co. then sold at the stores of Messrs. W. & G. Turnbull & Co., an assortment of books and a few tables, &c, all of which seemed to command fair rates.

The following day, Wednesday, Messrs. Bethune & Hunter sold, at Mr. Keiham's house, in Park street, Tinakori road, the house and acre No. 661, for £625. A quarter of town acre No. 655, opposite to the above, for £75; a horse, for £35; saddle and bridle, £5 10s.; and all the furniture, kitchen utensils, &c, at very high prices.

At Mr. Wallace's land sale, on Thursday, only a portion of the property was offered, surveys on the rest not being completed. A house in Taranaki street brought £155; section No. 46, Karori, £150; section^No. 9. Makara, £180: town aero. No. 266. £100; No. 343. £58; and No. 845. £12.

Messrs. Johnston & Co. sold, yesterday. 5-3 kegs nails, more or less damaged, in one lot, for £110; 6 kegs of cut nails, at 28s. each; and a few tons of Adelaide flour, at £1S per ton. — Spectator, March 20. There have been six sales during the past week and the usual amount of business has been transacted. The arrival of the Burnett and Dart has furnished our market with a good supply of general merchandise.

On Monday—Messrs. Bethune and Hunter sold by public auction at the Exchange. 70 cases Swaine, Bowd & Co.'s Old Tom. at 13s. and 13s. 6r\ per case; 5 qr. casks do. at 4s 9d. per gallon; 3 cases women's and children's stays at very good prices; 80 bags assorted sugars, at GJd. to 7+, d. per lb.; 10 tons flour, at £16 per ton; several bags sharps, at lis. per 100 lbs.; do. bran from Is. Id. to Is. 2d. per bushel. On Monday—Mr. W. Allen sold by publi auction an assortment of fancy wood, &c, which realized very fair prices. On Tuesday—Messrs. Bethune and Hunter sold by public auction at the residence of Major D'Arcy a large quantity of household furniture at very good prices, also several volumes books. On Wednesday—Messrs. Duncan and Vennell sold by public "auction, 17.bales wool from 9^d. to Is. 4d. per lb.; 8 tons potatoes, from £7 15s. to £8 10s. per ton; onions (damaged) from id. to fd. per lb.; 8 tons Adelaide flour, £17. per ton; Hobart-Town do., £18 do.; Chilian do., £15 do.; bran, Is. per bushel; sharps, 12s. to 12s. 6d. per 100 lbs.; Pampanga sugar, £51 per ton; currants, from 7d. to 7*d. per lb.; barley, 3H. do.; sugar candy, 6d. do.; vinegar, 2s. per gallon. On Friday—Messrs. Bethune and Hunter sold by public auction. 70 bales wool, which realised the following prices: 5 bales sold at Is. 6d. per lb.; 2S bales do. at Is. s£d.: 17 bales ditto, at Is. 4d.; 2 bales do. (Lambs') at Is. 4 id.; 1 bale do. at 9Jd. (in grease). On Friday—Mr. J. H. Wallace sold by public auction at the stoves of Messrs. W. Bowler, Sim and Co.: 24 bales wool, viz., 18 bales at Is. 4d. per lb.; and 6 bales ditto (in grease), at 10id. — Ltdependent, March 27. STIVNT'Y. By the Dart we have advices from this port to the 6th instant, from which we extract the following commercial notices. The public generally were much vexed by the 'continued default in the arrival of the European mails. The Sydney Chamber of Commerce discussed this among other questions at a late meeting, which was adjourned to a later date than that of our last advices. One of the reso-

i lutions proposes that a part of the subsidy granted by the colony shall be at once withdrawn, and the same amount paid to any company imthe colony who will guarantee to deliver the letters from .England,-via Panama or Isthmus of Suez, within sixty days. "The following is the latest trade report: — -On reviewing the business of the week, we can offer no comment on the amount of trade done; but few transactions have taken place, and none ■ of m ignitude worthy of record. A feeling of distrust pervades all classes of ' trade; the misfortunes of some, and mismanageiuient of others tend to create general discredit. We do not, however, consider the rumours afloat concerning some of our most staunch and respectable traders are in any degree warranted. We hope shortly to see credit fully re-estab-lished. Nearly every description of Merchandise is all but unsaleable; spirits are especially dull. In Eastern produce the large auction sales have completely stocked all classes of consumers. In beers, fresh draught has been freely taken at full rates, and we hear of a speculative demand for the Melbourne market. Flour remains unaltered; holders of barrel are confident in an advance, of which, however, no signs are yet apparent. We hope the European will make her appearance on her due date, and that the January mails will place us in possession of more cheering intelligence from Europe.— Empire, March 6. The Simoda has again brought a large addition *to our flour stocks, and prices cannot be quoted higher. We believe, however, that considerable transactions inHaxall have taken place at about "355. per barrel, and small parcels of New Zealand wlieat have changed hands at about 6s. to 6s. 6d. per bushel.— Empire, Feb. 24. Messrs. Mort and Co. held to-day their weekly produce sale. The quantity of wool catalogued was 297 bales, but owing to the indisposition to purchase, except at a considerable reduction in pi-ice, the greater portion, 194 bales, were withdrawn. The advices from England are of such _§ a gloomy character that it has caused the large wool buyers to be very careful in their operations. The lots sold show a decline of full 2d. per'ih., as compared with last week's prices, and had the large lots been sold at,the prices offered a much greater fall would have been established. The following were the rates obtained to-day-.— Fleece, Is. 3*jd. to Is. B£(L-; handwashed, Is. 4|d. to.ls. 6d. ; black, Is. 74,<L; grease, sd. to lljd.; New Zealand, ls..Ofd. to Is. fid.; mixed. 3fd. to ls.3d. Sheepskins have declined m the same proportion as wool; about 4;000 were sold at from 6|d. to BJd. per lb.; pelts, 3d. to 4d. per ft.— S.M. Herald, Feb. 26. The schooner TaTanaki was sold at auction to-day, by Messrs. Laidley, Ireland & Co., at the Sydney Exchange, and knocked down to Capt. W. B. M-Leod for the sum of £485. which was considered a good price and fair criterion of her value.— S.M. Herald, March 2. Messrs. Mort and Co. sold to-day by auction the following imported Spanish merino" sheep, ex Francis A. Palmer. There was a good attendance of buyers, principally squatters, and the prices obtained were considered satisfactory: One imported Spanish merino ram, at* £27; one at £25 10s.; one at £15; one at £14; one at £26; one at £38; one at £12; one at £17 10s.; one at £40; one at £35 10s.; one Spanish Merino ewe with lamb, at £14 10s.; one at £20; one, without Jamb, at £9.— S. M. Herald, March 6. The wool market from week to week showed a constant falling tendency, unrelieved by any activity on the part of buyers. The reports of Mort and Co., as given in the papers, state that this market, even after constant reduction, was characterized by a total absence of any desire to purchase. The following are this firm's latest PRICES CURRENT OF WOOL. s. d. s. d. Superior clips 1 7 to 1 8* Fair to good 14 1 g Low to middling 12 1 4. L Grease - 0 8 on| Locks, pieces, broken wool ... 0 6 0 11 Handwashed 0 10 15 -Scoured 1 5 \ \o MELBOURNE. The latest advices from this port via Sydney are to the Ist of March. The 'Argus 'of that' date says-— Trade has been anything but brisk this week, although a greater amount of business has been transacted. Buyers for the country trade are either holding back to the last moment, or they are not prepared to replenish stocks in anticipation of the winter. With regard to the winter trade, it is evident that Melbourne will be in future the great mart throughout the year. The improved state of the roads renders the liability of fluctuation in the rates of cartage less imminent than at any former period, but still the rise which lhe approach of the winter is certain to bring about will operate to induce the transport of large quantities of heavy goods during the month of March.

The Melbourne ' Heratd,' March 1, reports-.— Throughput the past week, the aspect of business matters in the city has been more cheering, and a marked rise in the jmces of various articles of consumption has taken place. This circumstance may be attributed to the fact of our merchants having received -favourable advices, per Victoria, respecting the movements of English shippers. The repeated cautions which have been addressed to exporters would appear at length to have exerted a positive influence, and we, accordingly, find, that the gross quantities of merchandise consigned hither, at the date of the departure of the December mail, were considerably less than they had previously been. The diminution, however, will probably be more noticeable when the next intelligence from Eng3and comes to ltandr; and, if so, it may reasonably be expected that a very great impetus will be given to our local trade. At present, the extreme prudence manifested by capitalists, with reference to purchases in the markets for imports, produces a depressing effect; and the actual sales completed may therefore be taken as the measure of the requirements of consumers. But there can be no doubt that speculative buyers will .shortly perceive that our commercial prospects are such as to warrant them in making extensive investments,; and the presence in the market of this class of. holders will go far to bring about a healthier state of business.

The advance in prices consequent on the receipt of the advices to which we have referred, has chiefly taken place in the provision market. The wool circular of Messrs. Goltlsborough on Feb. 16, since which date the tendency was downward, says—The bulk of this season's clip being now to hand, the quantity arriving is small and not much business doing. There have been no public sales this week, nor will there be until the arrival of the English .mail, buyers not being disposed to purchase uutil further advices are received of the state of the home market. During the week we have sold several lots privately, at the following quotations:—Superior fleece, 20d. to 22d.; ordinary ditto, 18d. to 19Jd.; inferior ditto,lsdto 17d.; greasy, 9d. to \2\&.\ slipe, lid. to 13d.; scoured, nominal (none selling). ADELAI DE. The subjoined is the latest report^ of the South Australian markets, extracted from the • Register:— Trade has been better this week. For the lastfew days there has been a strong disposition to buy flour, but only a moderate business was done, however, on account of the increased amount put on of £1 per ton. The market may be considered Arm, as the deliveries for consumption are satisfactory. The quotations are £13 10s. to £14 for country, and £14 to £15 for town brands. Wheat.—At the markets this week there has been a more extended enquiry from both town and country millers, and prices have improved Id. to 2d. per bushel on the decline noted last Thursday evening. To some extent this is caused by the continued arrival of orders from the other" colonies, whilst the extremely hot weather prevents many farmers from bringing their wheat to market. Some of the samples recently brought in are of an improved quality, and they consequently command fully Id per bushel over and above the rate paid for ordinary parcels. At Messrs. Green, Par, and Luxmore's sale of 2000 bushels of wheat this morning, there was a full attendance of millers, farmers, merchants, factors, brokers, and others, but there was not manifested much spirit in the bidding. The lot was knocked down to Messrs. Cowie and Aspinwall at ss. 10Jd. in store in town; the sacks at 20s. per dozen. Bran has met with but little notice, and buyers can supply themselves on rather lower terms. Quotations are at Is. "&, In pollard there is great steadiness at Is. B<L Barley and Oats.—ln the former article a large sale for immediate delivery has been effected, but the price has not transpired. The business done in the latter is entirely of a retail character, to satisfy the wants of the hour. TASMANIA. The only commercial news of importance from this colony is of the adoption of a new tariff increasing the rate of duty leviable on the most important articles which contribute to the revenue. The tariff had been in force about a month at the latest advices.