A FIRM MARKET

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 557, 9 January 1929, Page 10

A FIRM MARKET

MOVEMENTS ON ’CHANGE GENERAL TRENCT UPWARD By ■•NOON CALL" Few years Have seen the New Zealand Stock Exchange open in such strong tone as 1929. Within an hour or so of the opening call prices were established on the very firm levels ruling at the close of 1928, and a very healthy volume of business has been recorded, with every trend of the market for proven stocks upward. | The search for stocks showing prosj Pects of returning slightly more than ! the current rate of interest continues : unabated with the field limited. The ! popularity of sound Australian indus- | trials, noted particularly at the close •of the year, is maintained, and sevI eral rises are shown in the market for j this class of investment. As can be expected at this time of the year, there has been a lull in the operations of the company promoter, with very little being actively pushed at the moment. The fact that the market for the stock of new companies was over-exploited during the last quarter of 1928 is indicated by the failure of a number of concerns to secure support sufficient to allow them to go to allotment. One of the big- ; »est failures in this direction was the Ross Sea whaling venture. The proj motors of this concern must have spent J a considerable sum of money in work- • ing out quite an attractive case, only J to drop it as a result of lack of sup- ; port. I The next flotation of any importance from the Auckland investors’ point of view will most likely be the new Waikato coal venture, referred to by the writer once or twice in November and December. The prospects of this concern is expected at an early.- date, and indications are that it will be well supported. Keen Demand for Banks Operations on "Change over the two days since the opening show a continuance of the demand for proven stocks. Banks are meeting with a particularly firm demand, and several slight rises are noted. Insurances are very steady. Loan and agency shares show little change, the market for scrip in all sound concerns dealing with the man on the land being very firm. Dalgetys, dealt with in Christchurch yesterday, show an advance of Is on the price three weeks ago. Mention of farmers’ concerns calls to mind the very strong tone of the market for Farmers’ Trading scrip, which last year at this time was neglected and hard to quit, and to-day has firm buyers at par. There is every likelihood that the market for this scrip would go even higher but for the generally accepted knowledge that one of the company’s most prominent executive officers, known to hold the biggest proportion of the B preference shares, is endeavouring to unload. Around par, however, the scrip has many attractions, not the least being the fact that an 8 to 10 per cent, dividend is practically assured holders of the ordinaries this year. Brewery Shares Active Brewery shares were active in the South yesterday, New Zealands again firming to see several sales at 58s. The market for this class of investment at the moment does not show prospects of big returns. The miscellaneous group is quiet, but the scrip in all well-managed concerns meets with a steady demand. An interesting feature of business over the past two days has been the increased attention given to mining- A number of salgs have been putwirough with a tendency to spread operations over a wider range. Return on Investment Below is a summary of sales made on New Zealand Exchanges for the two days o-f the New Year ended January 8, giving the approximate return on investment based on the latest dividend. In the case of Government and local-body debentures the return includes redemption. The first column gives the price at which the latest sale was made: Latest Approx.

FREIGHT ALTERATIONS

(Australian and A ,Z. Press Association) Reed. 9.5 a.m. LONDON, Tuesday. Details of the freight alterations* are not yet available. The shipowners have circularised shippers notifying that, after their eonsuUation with the Australian and New Zealand Merchants’ Association the scale of revised rates of freights comes into operation from the United Kingdom on January 19.

Tf pf n rti BANKS— £ s. Com. of Australia 1 10 New Zealand .. . . 3 2 0 Union of Australia . 15 14 0 Engr, Scot. & Aust. s 12 0 4 9 6 INSURANCES— New Zealand .. . . 2 7 0 3 IS 0 LOAN AND AGENCY— Dalgety and Coy. .. 15 5 0 5 11 G COAL— Renown (paid) . . . 0 15 3 GAS— Auckland (paid) .. 1 4 0 Ditto (con.) .. .. 0 17 7 G 16 6 BREWERIES— New Zealand .. .. Staples 2 Tooths 2 10 0 0 0 MI SCELLANEO US— British Tobacco Colonial Sugar .. 59 15 0 Milne and Choyce (deb. stock) . . . . 1 Hayward’s Pictures 1 0 9 S 13 G MINING— Mahakipawa Waihi Ohinerauri 0 Lucky Shot (con.) . 0 0 3 DEBENTURES— N.Z. War Loan, 1938, p.c 99 7 6 Ditto, 1939, 41 p.c. 7 N.Z. Inscribed Stock, 1931, 6 p.c .01 0 N.Z. War Loan, 1930, 4h p.c 99 12 6 Wellington Harb. Bd. p.c., 1910 .. .. 99 10 0 5 11 5