FINANCIAL OPTIMISM

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 632, 8 April 1929, Page 10

FINANCIAL OPTIMISM

COMMERCIAL SUMMARY N.Z. PRODUCTS IN LONDON (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) j (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) | LONDON, Saturday. j The Stock Exchange resumed busi- j ness after the Easter holidays in a ! cheerful mood and continued throughout the week with an optimistic tone. Apparently the position in New York is being viewed with less anxiety, and there is a tendency to regard the monetary outlook more hopefully, especially as the Bank of England continues to acquire more gold. A most satisfactory feature is the pronounced recovery of gilt-edged stocks, which are firmer all round. Another good market is home rails, but industrials have had a dull time, speculators seeming to have retired for the time being. This week’s sharp drop in copper quotations is attributed in some quarters to the action of the Washington authorities in regard to oil trusts, and the proposed restriction on the output of oil, as it is feared that a similar course may be taken with regard to copper and that the price-fix-ing powers of large American producers may be curtailed. As long as apprehensions on this score exist uncertain conditions may be expected in the copper market. APPLE COMPETITION FROM U.S.A. The first arrivals of Western Australian and New Zealand apples found an unsatisfactory market. The demand for them has been extremely disappointing. To some extent perhaps this is due to the condition of the fruit, for Western Australians brought in the Euripides were decidedly lacking in coloLir. Some of the New Zealand fruit, especially Cox’s Orange, showed a considerable amount of bitter pit, but the chief cause of the poor demand is the presence on the market of large supplies of American apples. Arrivals of these the last week in March amounted to over 300,000 boxes. Future arrivals will be on a smaller scale, but there will be fair quantities of Americans available for several weeks. SLUMP IN BUTTER The butter market remains disappointing. Traders were hoping that an improvement would come after the Easter holidays, but their hopes have not been realised. This is largely due to weakness in the Continental markets. especially Germany, where production is reported to be 30 per cent, in excess of the corresponding period of 1928. Consequently the German demand for Ddnish has practically ceased to exist, and the surplus production of Denmark is being shipped here, with the result that prices have slumped. The only satisfaction to be found is that Danish butter is quoted to-day at a shilling or two lower than New Zealand. The fall in wholesale prices has enabled retailers to lower their prices over the counter, and with the best colonial now obtainable at 20d a lb, consumption is improving. As home supplies are likely to be backward owing to the cold spell in February and March and the lack of rain, importers are hopeful that the consumption will increase sufficiently to enable them to clear colonial supplies as they arrive. Fortunately there is no great accumulation of stocks at present, and though prospective arrivals are large, a moderate expansion of the demand ought to absorb them.