BRITISH MARKETS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 37, 14 February 1939, Page 11

BRITISH MARKETS

BETTER FEELING ON 'CHANGE WOOL AND BUTTER. LONDON, Fob. 11. Reaffirmation of British and French solidarity, Mr. Roosevelt’s sympathy towards France the Italian repudiation of the newspaper outbursts, combined with hopes of an early settlement of the Spanish war without dangerous complications, has relieved the stock markets of the previous defeatism, resulting in a satisfactory feeling for the second week in succession, although coniidence was insufficient to leave the bull positions open over the week-end. While a certain amount of quick profit-taking affected closing quotations, business remained small. The commodity market’s rally was not reflected in the Stock Exchange recovery. Although jute profited from the British and French orders for sandbags at Calcutta, while the Government requested Dundee manufacturers to increase their weekly output from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 the price also was affected by the reduced crop due to flooding. Base metals suffered from buying apathy. Bradford wool prices moved in sellers’ favour. Home trade Merino tops were fairly active while Continental buyer strongly inauired for crossbreds, resulting in considerable business. It is pointed out that New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and South American wool exports last year were approximately 600,000 bales greater thanq 1937 and it is believed that the January exports are on a similar scale. This is regarded as indicating that buyers find the present reasonable prices irresistible. Italy has renewed her trade pact with Uruguay, for three years, facilitating wool purchases of £750,000, almost double that of the previous agreement. It is believed that she hopes chiefly to obtain Merinos, owing to the difficulty of financing purchases from British and Empire markets. Butter is steady in undertone although increased stocks of 127,000 boxes are tending towards easier prices. Cheese is featureless.