FINANCE & MARKETS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 407, 16 July 1928, Page 12

FINANCE & MARKETS

Quiet Tone on ’Change

Goldsbrough, Morts Firmer

THE volume of business registered on ’Change this morning was small. A healthy tone is recorded in the market for most of the better-class securities, however.

Banks and insurances are quiet with practically no change in the market. New Zealand banks are in particularly good tone, with steady buyers at 59s 3d meeting sellers at 59s 9d. In the loan and agency section Ooldsbrough, Mort scrip registers a rising tendency, with sellers holding off the market. Coals are mostly meeting with a steady demand. Westports are firmer,

TODAYS QUOTATIONS

Closing quotations at to-day’s mid day call were:

LONDON MEAT MARKET OFFICIAL RESUME Under date July 13 the London office of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board cabled the following resume of Sinithfield delivered prices averaged for the week ended at that date:— New Zealand Wethers and Maidens.— Canterbury quality, selected brands: 561 b nnd under. 7 3-Sd a lb; 571 b to 641 b. 7 1-Sd; 651 bto 721 b, 6 7-Bd. Other brands, 561 b and under. 7 1-Sd; 571 b to 641 b, 7d; 6ulb to 721 b, 62d. New Zealand Ewes.—64lb and under, 5Jd. New Zealand Lambs.—Canterbury quality: 361 b and under, lOld; 371 b to 4 21b, 9Sd; 431 b to 501 b, 9£d; seconds, oi»'d. Selected brand?, 361 b and under, 10Jd: 371 b to 421 b, 9Jd. Other brands: First quality, 361 b and under, 9 7-Sd; second quality, 301 b to 321 b, average, lOd. New Zealand Beef.—Ox fores, 4d: hinds. 6 3-Sd; cow fores, 3Jd: hinds. 5Jd. Argentine Chilled Beef.—Ox fores, 4 1-Sd; hinds. 7id. Frozen Pork.—Porkers, 601 bto 801 b, J jd; 811 b to 091 b. 7d: 1001 b to 1201 b, 63d: baconers, 1211 b to ISOlb, ?2d. Lamb Market.—Steady. Consumption good. Mutton Market.—Firm. Beef Market.—Firm, with good demand New Zealand Porker Pigs.—Better market, but owing to hot weather there is very little doing. New Zealand Bacon P£gs.—Prices h aVO nadvanced owing to better prices for

.buyers offering 30s 6d and no sellers quoting. Timbers are quiet, although there is a steady inquiry for several shares. "Waihi mining shares continue active on a market steady at 12s 6d. Business at this morning’s early call: On ’Change—Waihi Mining, 12s 6d. Reported—Bank of Australasia, £l4 16s. Business at mid-day: On 'Change— Waihi Mining, 12s 6d.

BUTTER VALUES HARDEN LONDON MARKET (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) LONDON, Saturday. The butter market continues to harden, and the demand is improving. Many people in the trade are looking forward to higher prices, especially for choicest A 1 first grade qualities, during the next few months, and there is some speculative buying. One factor contributing to the firmness is active buying on the Continent, especially Germany, so that supplies are being well absorbed. The cheese market is also very firm. Canadian prices are too high for British buyers, and, with New Zealand supplies on the short side, and English also scarce, values seem likely to harden still further. FROZEN MEAT MARKET . Sheep.—Canterbury, medium. 7 id: heavy, North Island, heavy, 63d; New Zealand ewes. s£d: Patagonian sheep and lambs not offering. Frozen Beef.—Australian crops, 3Sd; hinds, s|d. Chilled Beef.—Argentine fores, 4£d; hinds, 7Jd: Uruguay fores. 33d; hinds. 63d; others unchanged. COTTON, RUBBER, HEMP, ETC. (Last week's prices in parentheses.) Cotton.—August delivery, 11.531 (July. 11.89 d) a lb. Rubber. —Para, lljd (llld) a lb; plantation and smoked. 9Jd (9Jd). Hemp.—July-September shipments, £3O 10s (June-August, £3O 10s) a ton. Linseed Oil. — £3O (£29 15s) a ton. Turpentine.—l4s 6d (44s 6d) a cwt. AUSTIN HARRISON DEAD (United P.A. — By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) (United Service) LONDON, Saturday. The death has occurred of Mr. Austin Harrison, formerly editor of the “English Review.” Mr. Austin Harrison was born in 1573, and was educated at Harrow and at various foreign universities. He wrote various books on European affairs, including “The Pan-Germanic Doctrine.” “The Kaiser’s War,” “England and Germany.” He wrote a memoir of his father, Frederic Harrison, the hostorian and Positivist. CANADIAN BANKS MERGE (United P.A. — By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) TORONTO, Saturday. The Minister of Finance, Mr. J. A. Robb, says he has consented to an agreement under which the Canadian Bank of Commerce will purchase the assets of the Standard Bank of Canada for their amalgamation, on a share-for-share basis. This will bring the assets of the Bank of Commerce to about £140.000,000.

APPLES SELL AT LOSS FRUIT MARKET DEPRESSED “POSITION WORST FOR 20 YEARS” Despite the fact that the markets for most primary products have registered a considerable improvement over the past 12 months indications are that many fruit-growers will strike a balance with little profit showing on their 1927-28 operations. The demand for fruit on the New Zealand market has not been as slack for many years, and there is every reason to believe that the Government guarantee of 11s a case will be drawn upon for several consignments of apples shipped overseas during the season. “Not for 20 years has the New Zealand fruit market registered such a depressed tone,” said Mr. Harvey Turner, general manager of Turners and Growers, Ltd., to a Sun representative this morning. All the cool stores in the North Island were filled almost to capacity with apples, while the buying strength of the public was particularly weak, and returns to the producer at present market rates would show considerable losses. Public Not Buying Retailers in several instances, said Air. Turner, had endeavoured to stimulate the demand by lowering prices, but such a move had been found to have little effect on consumption. The public did not seem to have the money. In all sections of the retail fruit trade the position was the same. The quality of the oranges coming forward from the Islands this season had never been better, yet the present market level made it hard for the producer to clear costs. Prices now with the greater part of the apple supplies coming out of cool store, were considerably lower than earlier in the season when they came direct from the orchards. “The demand will have to improve considerably,” concluded Mr. Turner, before there will be any profit for the producer in the heavy supplies now held in North Island cool stores.” Position of Exporters While the position would not be nearly as bad for the exporters as in 1926, stated Air. F. L. Howell, Auckland representative of the New Zealand Fruit Export Control Board, the Government’s guarantee of 11s a case would be drawn upon to cover slight losses; made on some consignments sold on the English market. The shipments made to Buenos Ayres early in the season had. proved highly profitable. Another experimental shipment of 10,000 cases made to Montreal, via Halifax, had also proved satisfactory. The English market, however, had not come up to the expectations of many growers. Costs of material, packing, grading and marketing generally, said Mr, Howell, were reckoned to come up to approximately 9s a case. Thus it could be seen that on present market levels in England there was not a very wide margin in the business for the New Zealand producer. There was a healthy demand overseas, however, at reasonable levels, and this could only be developed gradually.

ADVERSE INFLUENCES LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE BRITISH TRADE REVIEWED (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association, i LONDON, Saturday. The Stock Exchange has passed through a somewhat awkward period, which was not due to anything in London, but to conditions abroad, chiefly the unfavourable money developments in New York, with the advance in the Federal Reserve Bank’s rediscount rate to 5 per cent., and the forced liquidation in Paris and Brussels in connection with the Loewenstein catastrophe. Even the gilt-edged market has proved susceptible to these adverse influences, and although leading stocks have only shown fractional declines, there seems little hope of any early improvement in them for the present. In some quarters the fear is expressed that 4;he rise in the Federal Reserve Bank rate will necessitate an increase in the British rate, but a well-informed financial writer says there is no need for anxiety. The Bank of England is in a stronger position than it has ever been since the outbreak of war. The exchange is certainly moving against London, but it is still a long way from the point when it would be profitable to export gold to the United States, and it is evident that the situation, compared with a year ago, has altered very much in our favour. So it seems improbable that a rise in the bank rate will be necessary. On the other hand, the present rate is likely to become more effective, and the discount in the open market should have a further advance. APPLE SEASON CLOSING The Australian and New Zealand apple season is finishing satisfactorily, for although the arrivals last week at various English ports aggregated 250,000 boxes, the demand has been so good that prices have been maintained. This is due to the spell of hot weather for a fortnight, which has given an enormous stimulus to the consumption of fruit of all kinds, so that although the market is well supplied with both home-grown and Continental soft fruits, the demand for apples is sufficient to clear all arrivals, and there has not been an end-of-season slump in prices, which was often previously experienced. SALES AT HAMBURG A feature of the apple trade *this season has been the heavy sales at Hamburg, where 17 steamers landed 666.885 boxes from Western Australia, South Australia, and Victoria. This is easily a record for Hamburg, and the importers there are claiming that the Hamburg market is regaining its old position as one of the most important centres fqj* the distribution of Australian apples. The Germans are carrying out an extensive ‘‘eat more fruit” propaganda campaign, and to this they attribute the success in selling such a large quantity of apples at orices which they claim average about 2s a case more than was realised in other markets.

Sellers. Buyers. £ (. d. £ 8. d. BANKS — — 9 10 0 Bank of Australasia 14 17 6 14 lo 0 Com. Bank of Aus. . 1 9 9 1 Ditto (con.) 0 18 7 New South Wales .. 49 17 New Zealand . . 2 19 9 2 19 Ditto (D Mortg, 20s 1 7 0 1 Union of Australia.. lo 5 0 15 INSURANCE— National 0 16 1 0 15 8 New Zealand .. .. 3 South British .. .. 0 6 Standard — 3 ° LOAN AND AGENCYFarmers' Co-op. Auctioneering (A pref.) 0 16 9 0 15 Goldsbrough, Mort . 10 3 9 Newton King (pref.) 0 13 0 N.%. and River Plate N.Z. Guar. Corp (ord.) 0 S N.Z. Loan and Merc. 104 Ditto (pref.) .. .. — so 0 0 COAL— Hikurangi — 0 5 6 Ditto (pref) .. .. — 0 8 6 Ditto (A pref.) .. 0 S 0 Pukemtro 3 12 6 3 6 0 Renown (con.) 0 13 Taupiri 1 6 K Ditto (pref) 1 3 0 Waipa 0 14 6 Westport 1 10 6 Westport-Stockton . 0 3 2 Ditto (pref.) .. .. 0 4 3 0 3 6 GAS — Auckland 1 3 3 t 3 0 Ditto (con.) .. .. — 0 17 0 SHIPPING — Devonport Steam .. 1 4 3 1 2 6 Huddart-Parker .. S 9 Northern Steam 0 15 0 0 14 3 P. and O. (def stk.) 240 0 0 0 0 Union Steam (pref.) — 1 0 0 TIMBER— Bartholomew .. — 0 15 0 Kauri 0 19 6 0 18 6 Loyland-O’ Hfrien 1 13 6 National 0 11 0 0 6 6 WOOLLEN— Ka iapol — 0 9 6 Ditto (con.) ., 0 5 0 W ellington — 6 5 0 Ditto (pref.) •• .. — 7 BREWERIES— C. L. Innes and Co. — 0 16 6 J. Staples and Co. — 1 16 3 MISCELLANEOUS— Auck. Amuse. Park 0 7 6 British Tobacco 2 3 3 2 Burns, Philp and Co. 2 0 By croft, Ltd 1 10 0 Checker Taxicab .. 0 10 6 0 5 6

Sellers Buyers. Colonial Sugar (Aus) 60 6 59 12 6 Dominion Pictures 1 1 0 Ditto (pref.) .. .. 1 1 0 Fuller’s Pictures * . . 0 19 6 Gear Meat 1 19 6 Grey and Menzies . 0 9 0 Hayward’s Pictures 1 1 0 0 19 6 Henry Jones Co-op. 1 16 0 Hill and Plummer . 1 11 9 H.M. Arcade (pref.) 1 0 0 Holden’s Motors . . 1 12 6 1 11 0 Milne and Choyce .. 1 4 6 Ditto (pref.) .. .. 1 4 6 Ditto (B pref.) .. 1 4 6 Ditto (deb. stock). 1 3 9 National Pictures .. 0 13 0 N.Z. Paper Mills .. 4 10 0 4 0 0 Morris Hedstrom .. 1 1 6 1 0 0 Northern Boot . . .. 0 18 0 Robinson Ice Cream 1 3 0 1 1 0 Sanford. Ltd. • 1 0 0 0 19 0 Ditto (pref.) .. ... 1 0 6 Taranaki Oil .. 0 10 6 0 9 9 Thames Theatre 1 0 0 Union Oil 1 9 Whittome Stevensons Wilsons Cement — 1 18 MINING— Moanataiairi (paid) . 0 2 0 — Golden Age (paid) 0 0 0 0 1 New Waiotahi (4s paid) —• 0 0 41 Ditto (con.) .. .. 0 0 41 Occidental Una (eon.) 0 0 9 Ohinemuri (ord.) .. 0 7 3 0 6 8 Ditto (pref.) .. .. 0 7 0 Waihi 0 12 7 0 12 0 1 6 0 1 4 Mount Lyell 1 15 0 1 14 0 DEBENTURES— Auckland Gas 1935, 5 92 0 0 Ditto, 1935, 6.J p.c. 102 0 0 Auckland Harb. Bd., 89 0 0 95 0 0 City of Auckland,, 1940, 5J p.c 95 10 0 99 5 0 Auck. Fire Board, 6 100 0 0 Bor. of Devonport, — 100 0 0 Boi\ Mt. Eden, 5J — 100 0 0 Ditto, 6 p.c — 102 0 0 Bor. of Hamilton, 6 — 100 0 0 Hamilton Theatres, 105 0 0 Ditto, 8 p.c 106 0 0 98 0 0 1 4 0 1 3 0 Glaxo .. 9 b 0 0 99 0 0 GOVERNMENT BONDS N.Z. War Loan, 1930, 4J per cent. 98 0 0 Ditto. 1938, 45 p.c. 98 10 0 Ditto, 1939, 4i p.c. 98 10 0 Ditto, 1941, 4i p.c. 98 0 0 Ditto. 1933, 55 p.c. — 98 12 6 Ditto. 1936, 5j p.c. — 100 12 6 INSCRIBED STOCK— Ditto. 1936. 55 p.c. — 100 10 0 N.Z. War LoaJi, 1938, 45 p.c — 98 12 6 Ditto, 1927-41, 55 — 98 15 0 Ditto, 1939, 45 p.c. 98 12 6 Ditto. 1933. 51 p.c. — 100 10 0