EXHILARATED TRADE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 289, 27 February 1928, Page 12

EXHILARATED TRADE

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE ACTIVE A HEALTHY REVIVAL By Cable.—Press Association. — Copyright. Reed. 8.5 a.m. LONDON, Saturday. The Stock Exchange has had an exhilarating week, the outstanding feat- ! ure being, as one financial writer puts j it, that dealings have been most active | in what may be described as the ex--1 tremes of the market. High-class investment stocks have met with a revival of interest, owing in large measure to th improvd monetary conditions following on the general appreciation of sterling, and the strengthening of the Bank of England reserve. At the other end of the scale, oil shares, which had fallen to very low prices, have attracted much speculation, partly owing to rumours of the possibility of the termination of the war in connection with oil purchases in Russia. In industrials the principal feature has been the spectacular jump in Courtauld’s shares, but there has also been much activity in other industrials, notably gramophones, shares in all companies producing these machines having been bought eagerly at advancing prices. All rubber shares are under a cloud, owing to the slump in the price of that commodity, which brought about a selling pressure that was too much for the market, and forced prices down all round. Notwithstanding the great decrease in the exports of apples from the United States and Canada, which up to the present are only slightly more than half of the previous season’s, the market for this fruit continues disappointing, and is far lower than might have been expected. Oregon Newtowns are only fetching 10s to 15s a ! box, and consequently traders are far from optimistic regarding the prices likely to be obtained for Australian and New Zealand apples, the first arrivals of which are due here in the last week in March. The butter market at last is beginning to show signs of improvement, and the news cabled from New Zealand that the exports for the rest of the season will probably show a shrinkage of from 12 to 15 per cent, has had a hardening effect. Thus, prices in the near future seem more likely to advance than to decline. With reference to the article recently cabled about the effects of the prohibition of preservatives, the High Commissioner for New Zealand, Sir James Parr, in a long letter to the newspaper, “The Grocer,” says all the New Zealand factories are able to turn out, without preservatives, a product which still possesses the well-known keeping properties that have always been associated with Dominion butter. FAVOURABLE OUTLOOK The “Economist’s Monthly Review” again takes a favourable view of the outlook. The writer says: “‘The state of trade has slowly improved since the New Year. Those industries which are specially subject to seasonal influences, such as the building trade, have been considerably affected by the bad weather, and this has prevented anything more than a moderate improvement in the unemployment figures. But in spite of this the total figures are moving in the right direction in the exporting industries. A hopeful factor is the more optimistic outlook in certain depressed trades. In iron and steel foreign competition is lessening in intensity, as wages and prices conform to the new monetary equilibrium. At the present moment, too, the threat of labour trouble in Germany (in itself an indirect consequence of the process of readjustment) is easing the situation for British steel makers. The output of coal has increased, but prices and demand are still unsatisfactory. Cotton, apparently, is slightly better, although in some quarters there is uncertainty arising from the movement to lengthen hours and reduce wages, which is regarded as bad for immediate trade. —A. and N.Z.