MONEY AND MARKETS

Marlborough Express, Volume LX, Issue 228, 27 September 1926, Page 5

MONEY AND MARKETS

COMMERCML SUMMARY LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE. A GENERAL REACTION.

[Press Association.]

Aus. and N.Z, Cable Association.

(Received Sept. 27, 8.5 a.m.) LONDON, Sept, 26. Business on the Stock Exchangc has been disappointing. Tlie continuanoe of tlie ooel strike and tbe growing stringenoy of the monetary position have combined to produce a general reaction. Vague runiors of a new conversion scheme have alo had H weakening effeot on gil tedged and the conditions have not been improved by the unexpected appearance of New Soutli Wales- as a borrower. The prosp-ectus has been coldly received, and such an influential riewsjpaper as the Stat-ist says: "The present is not an auspicious time for new issues, and though there is reason to expect imprcvement in the monetary sitnation towards the end of the year, the immediate outlook does not justify heavy borrowing." Tlie earliest effect of tlie New South Wales issue has been the marking down of several recent colonial loans — notably, the last Cbmmonwealth 5 per cent. scrip, which is now quoted at 1J discount, Some comment is made on the fact that New Soutli Wales new loan is issued at 97, where as last March a loan exactly simil xr was floated at 98, but it must be borne in nnnd that the conditions in March were more favorablei than now, as is shown by' the price of the 3] per cent. conversion loan, which is regarded as an index to gilt-edged values. It was then quoted at £75 15s and is now £74. FALL IN SILVER. Yesterday's sha,p' fall in the price of silver to 27^d, the lowest since March, 1916, was due to heavy saies c.n Chinese account. Commenting thereon, an authority in the bullion liiarket points out tliat the fall has been more or less continuous since Mareh, 1920, when the price touched 89]. (1 — the lowest being 38|d and the average for the: year 61.59d. This was brought about by tlie knowledge that the world's silver supplies had been growing and the demand decreasing. Now there Is the added factor that the placing of Tndia on a definite gold standard basis for currency promises to deprive the world market of an important consumer, if, indeed, it does not result in heavy saies on Indian account.

THE METAL MARKET. Discussing tlie relapse in tin prices, one of the leading firms of n etal brokers says : "Th© operations 011. the London Metal Exchange do i'Ot affect the position as regards supply and demand. Where tin is wanted for consumptioxi there is still considerahle scarcity, and high premiums are being paicl for Straits aud other descriptions of refined ir.etal. The Ameri ea as have taken ad\antage of tlie set-back to huy fairly freely, and there has been a quiet and steady demand from consumers here and on ths Continent." Another broker writes that as coi.isumers, especially in Ameri ea, are supposed to he not too well covered, som^i recovery may be reason ahly anticipated. THE WOOL INDUSTRY, Regarding the wool situation the

Feonomist's Bradford eorrespondent says that both in the primary markets and in London values are so iT-rch af)o-V'3 the Bradford parity that many firms have been ohliged to become passive spectators, for they cannot compete with C'ontinental concerns; either in the raw v oof marketsror in tbo sale of yams and cloth. Yoykshire users are unsble to follow the market at tlie moment. The recent adva nces in tops and yarns was made absolutely cssential by the rise in wool and they have curtailed the demand and in all qualities the turnover has been disappointing. Tu4day's quotations are very firm, but in nearly every qase where business has. offered it was at a price well below the replacement cost. This applies to tops, yarns, aird pieeo goods, GESRMA NY'Si R ECO VERY. Germany's -remarkable economic recovery is described in a report prepared by tlie commercial secretary_ to the British Emba.ssy at Br-rlin, who says that there is hardly another co-untry of similar industrial i mportanco whicli could overosme with such comparativo ease tlie completo destrjjqtion of its eiiiTency or wliich could have passed with equal rapidity through the sul sequent periods of neoessary but extremely trying reorganisation. \\ ltK regar l to Germany's obligations under the "experts' plan" there are no serious grounds for apprehension. It seems probahle that the full amount oan be raised when the. time comes. The burden cannot be regarded as excessive, nor, makingr allowance for the respcctive wealtli, is it heavier than that of other Eiuropeaa countries. Discussing the rejport the Financial Times says: "Germany undoubtedly owes muioh to outside assistance. One: of the chief ohstaclcs to industrial revival was the lack of working oapital, practically all of which had been destroyed by Inflation. Thanks to the influx of lnvestment funds, mainly from the Lnited States and in a lesser degre© from the United Kingdom, Holland, and other conntries, this nced has been sufficiently supplied di rng the last two years. It is a of returning confidence. vvhereas lenders at first- demanded 10 or 11 pec cent. they were suhsequently prepared to lend at 7 per cent.