The Express.
London, England, 1867-12-21 00:00:00

MONEY MARKIIT.--(THIS DAY)

ows o'Oloar.

On the Stock Exchange this morning tho market
for railway securities opened with great firmness,
upon additional large purchases to close specula-
tive accounts. In consequence of the pub-
lication of the circular issued by the directors
Metropolitan stock was in very active request, and
rose to 116, " buyers," being fully 2 per cent. bet-
ter than yesterday, and 7 above the lowest price
touched on Thursday. Other lines were also higher,
in sympathy. A general reaction, however,
has since taken place, through sales to realise
profits, and several of the principal stocks are
worse than yesterday. Consols are steady. A few
of the foreign bonds have improved, including
Spanish.
Consols are quoted 92f, ex div., for money, and
92f to f, ex div., for the account (January 7). The
Three per Cents. Reduced and New Three per
Cents. are firm, at 921 to I.
The railway market opened very firmly but has
since relapsed, and several stocks are now worse
than yesterday. Thus compared, Caledonian shows
a tall of If per cent. ; Midland, 11 ; Great Northern
(original), 1 ; ditto A, ; and Great Eastern, 1.
Metropolitan, however, is f better, and Brighton, 1.
Metropolitan is now quoted 1141 to I ; Great
Western, 431 to 44} ; London and North Western,
113} to 114 ; Midland, 1011 to f ; Lancashire and
Yorkshire, 121 to 1 ; Caledonian, 721 to 73;
South Eastern, 66/ to 671 ; Great Eastern, 31}
to I ; Great Northern, 107 to 108 ; ditto A,
109} to 1101 ; London, Chatham, and Dover,
181 to 19 ; North British, 331 to ; Brighton,
501 to f ; Berwick, 981 to 991 ; and York and
North Midland, 901 to 911.
. _

The rate for the Seat bills in the discount mar-
ket is 12 to per cent., with a moderate demand.
Spanish Passive Bonds and Italian of 1861 are in
request, and have advanced I per cent., viz., to 26
to and 454 to I, respectively. Spanish New Three
per Cents. are I/ better, at 351 to 36k, but Mexican
have receded It, the present price being 14 to
Turkish of 1862 are at 60 to 61 ; ditto of 1865,
33 to t ; Greek, 12} to 13 ; and Egyptian of 1864,
85 to 86.

United States 5-20 Bonda have advanced } per
cent., viz., to 72k to 72} ; while Erie and
Illinois Central railway shares have receded Jr,
being quoted 481 to 491 and 881 to 891 respec-
tively.

Atlantic Cable shares are steady. Anglo-
American are at 19 to 19k ; and Atlantic Telegraph
Eight per Cent. Preference, 4i to I.
Banking and financial shares are quiet, at yester-
day's quotations.

The directors of the South Australian Company
announce a half-yearly dividend at the rate of 8
per cent. per annum, free of income tax, payable
on the 15th of January.

At the meeting to-day of the Italian Land Com-
pany (Limited) the net profits for the year were stated
to be 9,848/. Of this sum it was decided to appropriate
5,0001. to the payment of interest at the rate of 5
per cent. ; to write off 2,5921. from the preliminary
expenses ; and to carry forward 2,255'.

Two o'CLocK.

The stock markets are flat, especially as regari
railways. Consols are at 921 to f, ex div., for
money, and 92i, "buyers," ex div., for the
account.

In addition to the 5,000,0001. asked for by
the Midland Railway Company, it is now offi-
cially confirmed that the Brighton Company is
taking powers to issue 1,000,0001. more stock ; and
the bill put forward by the Caledonian Railway
Company for the present session provides for a
further issue of 1,600,0001. of capital, and,
it is said, shows that powers are to
be taken for an addition of 900,000/. to
this, to be held in reserve. It is also believed that
certain other companies will find it necessary to
ask for further financial means.

Telegrams from New York announce the ship-
ment of a further sum of 150,000/. in gold to
Europe, raising the total known to be on the way
to 350,0001. Further considerable remittances
from the same quarter are expected. In addition,
upwards of 700,0001. is on the way from Australia,
as previously referred to.

The foreign exchanges yesterday afternoon were
very steady. The only alteration worth men-
tioning was a slight improvement in the rates for
bills on Hamburg. The list is subjoined :
Amsterdam, 3 months, 12.04 to 12.1 ; ditto, short,
11.181 to 11.191; Rotteram, 3 months, 12.01 to 12.1 ;
Antwerp, 3 months, 23.324 to 25.374 ; Brussels, 3 months,
25.324 to 25.371. Hambiug and Alton*, 3 m0uth5,13.94 to
13.10; Berlin, Cologne ke., 3 months, 6.2tif to t 1.274 ;
St. Petersburg, 3 months, 32/ to 32 ; Paris, short, 25.10
to 25.... k); ditto, 3 months, 25.30 to 25.33 ; Marseilles,
3 months, 25.30 to 25.33 ; Frankfort-on-the-Maine,
3 months, 1201 to 120 i ' • Vienna, 3 months, 12.30 to
12.40 ; Trieste, 3 months, 12.30 to 12.40 ; Madrid, 3
months, 481 to 481 ; Santander, 3 months, 484 to 484; Cadiz,
3 months, 49 to 48f ; Seville, 3 months, 49 to 481 ; Malaga,
3 months, 484 to 481 Valeucia, 3 months, 484 to 481; Bar-
celona, 3 months, 484 to 481 ; Bilbao, 3 mouths, 481 to
481 ; Saragossa, 3 months, 481 to 481 ; Leghorn, 3
months, 23.70 to 28.80 ; Genoa, 3 months, 23.70 to
28.80; Naples, 3 months, 28.70 to 23.80 ; Palermo, 3
months, 28.70 to 28.80 ; Messina, 3 months, 23.70 to
28.80; Lisbon, 90 days' date, 511 to 511 ; Oporto, 90 days
date, 511 to 51/.
The rates of discount on the Continent are above
those current here, except at Paris, where the
quotation in the open market is 14, per cent. At
Vienna the rate is 4 ; at Hamburg and Frankfort,
2i ; at Amsterdam and Berlin, 3# ; at Turin, Zi ;
at Brussels, 2 • and at St. Petersburg, 8 per cent.
Comparatively little business will be transacted
in the City next week. Many persons will leave
for the Christmas holidays on Monday and Tuos
day, and on Thursday most of the large public
establishments will be closed, including the Stock
Exchange. The Baltic Coffee House will also be
shut on that day.
The liquidators of Overend, Gurney, and Co.
(Limited) will pay a sixth dividend of L. in the
pound on Monday and Tuesday next. This will
make 14s. paid. The progress of the liquidation
under the circumstances, may be regarded as satiii!
factory.
Mr. C. F. Kemp, the official liquidator of the
Contract Corporation (Limited), yesterday attended
before the chief clerk of the Master of the Rolls on
the application to have the remaining uncalled
liability of the contributories, amounting to uul. per
share, paid up. His affidavit was put in and read,
showing the state of the companys' liabilities and
assets to be such that, oven if this call were paid to
the full extent, it would only give a very small
dividend to the creditors, the creditor's representa-
tive being of opinion that there would not be more
than 2s. tkl. in the pound. Mr. Kemp stated that
the result of his experience in connexion with the
past call of this company justified the inference
that in the interests both of creditors and share-
holders, it was desirable that forbearance should
be shown towards the contributories, as, if the call
was peremptorily enforced, a very much smaller
sum would be obtained from it than if time were
given to the shareholders to pay where their assets
are not immediately available. The representatives
of many of the shareholders present strongly con-
firmed Mr. Kemp's opinion in stating that their
clients would have been utterly unable to have met
the last call but for the forbearance which had
been shown. The chief clerk held that the call
was necessary. but declined to express any opinion
upon the question as to whether time should be
given, leaving it open to any shareholder to appeal
to the Master of the Rolls on the subject, if he
thoughtfit to do so.
At a meeting yesterday of shareholders in the In-
ternational Contract Company (Limited), some
lengthened explanations were given with respect