COMMODITY MARKETS AND PRICES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 224, 21 August 1937, Page 5

COMMODITY MARKETS AND PRICES.

THE INVESTMENT MARKET.: :

(By “Penloo.”) -- With so many comi>anies putting out good bala.nce-aneets, and distributing good dividends, it is inevitable that the stock Exchanges should be busy. But investors have now a very wide choice, tor practically most of the Australian companies come within the purview of New Zealand investors who, however, ■are showing a tendency to look for higher returns than they were prepared to accept during the worst of the depression, anel the same trend is to be noted in Australia. As one broker observes, the larger dividends declared l.'.ve raised the average returns from equity shares, and the yields now shown l>v sound industrials are higher than they bin e been for some time. In tlio fast few years investors have been buying in expectation of higher dividends and, therefore, prices for shares have often appeared to be too high. Judged by the standard of the returns, accepted in the last year or two, it might now be contended that prices for sound industrials were too low, because the yields now offered are much higher than those accepted in recent years. It could hardly be expected that investors would continue to carry prices upwards indefinitely, and the last three or four months have shown a flattening of the upward curve which persisted for so long. This means that capital is seeking better remuneration than it has been receiving during the past four or five years, and capita, is entitled to a fair deal.

HALF YEAR’S TRADE. The overseas trade of the Dominion for tiro six months ended June 30 shows substantial increases, both in exports and imports, as compared with the first half of 1936. The value of the exports is given in the Monthly Abstract as £42,100.357 as compared with £34 230,823. an increase of £7,869,034, all in New Zealand currency. The imports for the six months amounted in value to £23,727.401, as compared^with £19,909,819, on increase of £5.81i,082, or about £2,000,000 less than the increase shown by the exports. The greater proportion of the income from exports is derived from cattle and sheep and of the two slreep are the more profitab'c, and for that reason it is very probable that more and more farmers will take to sheep farming. Dealing first with the returns from cattle and taking the official figures as given in the Monthly Abstract, the total income derived from cattle m the first half of this rear was £l2 237211, as compared with £10,901,119, m the corresponding half of last year, an increase of £1.306,092. The totals are made no of butter,’ £8 251.009, against £7.134 315; cheese, £2.718 23/, against £2.558 216: casein. £141.204. against £102.476; dried milk. £lO9 413, effc.nist £213 597; sugar of milk, £12.0J» against £7192; milk and cream; nieserved, £7B 884. against £68.33/: cbilh ed beef. £27! .030 against £246 , frozen beef. £255 960. 925- hid'w £301.180. agnm=t £223.9.2. anrl' calf skins, £78,882. against £66,33<' gfjj,’ ex* PRODUCTS . The value of the exports of sheep products in the first half of this year was £25.479.280, ns 'C-Oinpared uith £L9 001.722. an increase of £b,4i1.00», while the .increased ycturn rom cat e in. the period was only £1,30b, UJ2. me sheep income was '- made up of "° Ol £16,320.787 against £10.802,72f; frozen lamb. £6,190,324 against £u,6u7,4/0; frozen mutton, £790,195 against £962 541; frozen mutton and iamb ioints £B3 against £75; sausage casings £563.388 against £454 J 80; slicepskm's with wool, £397,073 against £268.758; sheepskins without wool, £1,186.217 against £793,841; sheep (live), £25,213 against £ll,/30. flieie are some points that must lie noted here. The return from wool alone was about £4,000,000 more than the total derived from cattle. There is a-Very big increase in sheepskins without wool, which tells its own tale, and there is an appreciable decline in muttdn exports because sheen farmers have been relying on wool rather than on the carcase, and so less mutton was avail' able for export. Of the £42,100,30/ exports the sheep accounted for considerably more than half and .cattle for considerably more than a third of the total. Sheep and cattle products together (the writer lias not taken tallow into account) yielded £37,714,397, leaving £4,385,752 to be provided by the other export products. In the past season wool has been our mam support, and it is pleasing to think that there is every probability of wool bolding firm in the coming season. AYe ought soon to be able to estimate the trend of the wool market by the sales in Australia which begin shortly. The exports in the second half of the year are. usually comparatively small. The total in the second half of last year was only £22.521,117.

IMPORT FIGURES. The imports for the half-year, as already stated, were valued at £25,727,401, and for the year ended June 30 last the total was £50,070,468, so that imports are fairly evenly divided, between the two half-years. The biggest single item of imports is motor-cars. In . the first six months- of this year wc spent £2,097,051 on 17,277 motor, vehicles, against £2.254,819 on 14,681 vehicles. Our imports of tea in half-year were valued at £441,715, against £380,214; the whisky imported cos't £197,130, against £140,400; cigarettes, £231.330, against £178,556; tobacco, : £210.639, against £206,045 ; hosiery, £173,119, against £92,970; apparel and ready-made clothing, £985,899, against £629,384; boots, shoes and slippers. £322,242, against £209,011; tablecloths, towels, sheets,£138,365, against £64.539; drapery £162,461, against _ £130,317 ; cotton piece-goods, £951,471, against 7,467; silk and artificial piece-goods, £569 906. against £440,120.; woollen piece-goods, £641,810, against £407,361- motor spirit, £754,004, against £825 802; bar. bolt, and rod iron and steel, £236,567, against £176,069; tin, £45 380. against £34.369; - machine tools. £137,542, against £7l 031; newsprint, £148,565, against £200,609,