TRADE SLACK.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 June 1920, Page 5

TRADE SLACK.

PESSIMISTIC WOOL OUTLOOK IS TEE BOOM ENDING? By Telegraph.—-Press Assn.—Coprr'CM. London, June 28. Though the money market has been active with loans for the approaching end of the half-year, quietness has been the week's feature in both money and stock market. The main cause has been political, especially the situation in Ireland, also uncertainty as regards the final reparation settlement wth Ger-' many. A disturbing factor has been the issue price of the New South Wales loan. The improvement in some Continental exchanges is not viewed optimistically, being regarded less a= the result of domestic and financial improvement than to a neaTer'prospect of Germany paying an instalment of the indemnity. A feature of the prevailing financial stringency and the slackening of the trade boom has been the vast number of cancelled orders, especially in the wool trade, which is discussing the advisability of compiling a black-list of customers who cancel without good reason. Nevertheless reports from the North and the Midlands indicate that' current contracts will enable factories to work at fullest pressure. Assisted by a period of remarkable freedom from industrial disputes, the impression prevails that wages and profits have both about reached the highwater mark. At the same time the public is spending less freely. A period of private economy appears to have set in. The strongly pessimistic outlook in the wool trade continues, and the trade anxiously awaits the opening of the next London series on July 6: The produce market has been dull for some time.' The dullness was more pronounced during the past week, the main cause being the fluctuation of silver and exchange, also a slump in export demand. Prices, with few exceptions, have declined. There is practically nothing doing in tallow; quotations for all descriptions are lower. The freight market is very unsettled, and charters are becoming more difficult to obtain. With the increasing tonnage and decreasing demand, homeward freights are tending downwards. The reduction .in the price of mutton has brought about a satisfactory clearance. There is. now storage capacity for half a million carcases.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. METAL FLUCTUATIONS. ' POSITION OF MEAT MARKET. Received June 29,1Q.35 p.m. London, June 28. The reaction in copper, after the previous week's rally, is attributed largely to the difference between the standard and refined prices, and buyers remain j distrustful until a truer margin Is established. It is anticipated the tin market will experience further violent fluctuations, though probably the price j has. already reached bottom. The Metal Bulletin considers that in view of the ample stocks of spelter there is no reason to expect spelter to rise, though there may be temporary advances. Meat prices are a matter of much speculation in view of the fact that British meat will be released from Government control on August 4. Some traders anticipate a period of severe 1 fluctuations in the price of British meat, and still clamor for all round decontrol, but the Government resists the demand. Meanwhile retailers have asked the Food Minister to ensure for all a fair share of British and the best imported meats. Bradford wool market conditions are unchanged, users buying only for immediate requirements.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.