The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-21 00:00:00

'l7

MONEY MARKET

A ND
COMMERCIAL kiaTELLIGENiIt,

TWELVE O'CLOCK.

Business in the general discount market remains
very quiet, and as the capital on offer is still abun-
dant, uo change can be reported in the rates current
for accommodation.

There were no gold :operations of importance a• 1
the Bank of England on Saturday.
The Pera has arrived with specie, &c., amount•
jag to £18,400.

Large transactions took place in all speculative
funds at Berlin on the 18th inst. notwithstanding
the panic on the French Bourse ; the tendency was
firm, and it was believed by the stockjobbing public
that, after all, peace would not be interrupted.
Austrian and American funds were slightly altered,
and Russian flat. There had been no business
transacted in railway shares, and quotations were
lower.
From Vienna it is stated the Anglo-Austrian
Bank would distribute to their shareholders an extra
dividend of 25 florins per share, and that the emis-
sion of the Crown Prince Rudolf Railway Deben-
tures will not yet take place.
The accounts from the manufacturing districts
for the past week represent that business generally
has shown symptoms of improvement. At Man-
chester some rather large purchases have been
effected in cloths and yarn, and prices have shown
a slightly improved tendency. At Leeds, Bradford,
and Huddersfield a fair amount of business has been
effected in heavy fabrics, chiefly for home consump-
tion, but at slightly reduced rates. In the hosiery
and lace departments of Leicester and Nottingham
there
has also been an improvement in the
demand for home purposes, and spring goods to
s°llle extent have been taken by the wholesale
houses. At Birmingham, Sheffield, and Wolver-
hampton, and most of the other hardware districts,
a more cheerful tone has been apparent, and symp-
toms of a return to activity have presented them-
selves
in most of the principal departments of
trade, although as regards the export trade the
orders received from the United States have as yet
been under the average of former seasons.
Business in the corn market this morning exhi-
bited rather more animation. The large arrivals of
foreign
grain at ports of call, viz., about 120,000
.quarters, having caused holders to moderate their
terms, a fall of 3s. to 4s. per quarter has been estab-
lished.

The directors of the Royal Mail Steam Packet
Company have issued their report, showing the
result of the working for the half year ended 30th
June last. In addition to the augmentation of the
disbursements in the working account, arising from
the sickness in the West Indies, the charges for
coals have been further increased by higher
rates of freight, and the items of provisions
and stores, by the rise in price of many
articles in general use. The credit side of the
working account, compared with the first half-year
of 1866, shows a very large falling off in the receipts,
The
greater part of which occurs in passage money.
rhe unsettled condition of Mexico, the effect upon
Brazil of the continuance of the war with Paraguay,
a diminution in the shipments of specie, and the
generally depressed state of trade, are, no doubt,
Partly the causes of this falling off in the receipts ;
but the decrease is chiefly owing to the absorption
of traffic by other lines of steam communication, of
Which the French West India Mail Service—highly
subsidised and carried on under a contract for a
long term of years—is the most serious in its
effect upon this company'sr earnings. The directors
congratulate the shareholders on the satisfactory
state of the insurance fund, and recommend a
distribution of £3 per share, free of income tax,
including profit from the insurance account, pay-
able on the 26th inst. The general reserve fund
amounts to £4,939.

The half-yearly interest of the Central Argentine
Railway Company has been declared at 7 per cent.
on fully paid up shares, and is now in course of pay-
ment at the London and Westminster Bank.

A telegram just received from Path states that
the French fleet has not yet sailed.
The directors of the St. John d'El Rey Mining
Cornpa n.y-
(Limited) have received the following re-
port, dated Morro Velho, 17th Sept., 1867 :—Pro-
duce for August, 45,918 oitavas ; from 5,873 tons
ore yield 7,356 oitavas per ton ; cost for Augnct,
days ; profit for August, £7,306 ; produce, 11
of September, 13,202 oitavas ; yield, 6,543
held
per ton. A meeting of the company will be
'eld this afternoon for the purpose of electing a
-ireet°r7 .
in place of Mr. John Distin Powles,
deceased
Atlantic and Great Western Railway Debentures
ilre steady at 24 25; and the Consolidated Mort-
gage Bonds at 19f 20k.
The report of the Royal Mail Steam Company, to
Sit"e submitted on the 23d inst., attributes the neces-
a,3hY of declaring a reduced redistribution of £3 per
21,,a.r° partly to the sickness in the West Indiea,
:111ch of expense from alterations in the mode
i: Carrying on the service, whilst at the same time
diminished the passenger traffic, partly to au
ta,liginentation of the disbursements, arising from
" charges for coal, provisions, and stores, and
tAhartly
-rem the unsettled condition of Mexico and
effect upon Brazil of the continuance of the
wart with Paraguay ; but, above all, from the ab-
tt°irPtion of traffic by other lines of steam commu-
eati", of which the French West India Mail
Service,hi,gmy subsidised and carried on under
e°atract for a long term. of years—is the
ost serious in its effect. Nothing having
o,:eurred to affect the " insurance account," the
directors congratulate the shareholders on the satis-
:fter ory position of that fund, and on the substantial
itlll.llB they have from time to time derived from
.
order to meet the views of the Government
regard to public representations from the
manufacturing districts, it has been agreed that the
hoe Indian packets shall call at Plymouth on their
fails, for
passage to Southampton to land the
a"s, for which the company will receive a sum be-
*tteved to be sufficient to cover the expenses of the
established
Service. The line of steam communication
ttBtThlished by the Panama, New Zealand, and Aus-
ralian Royal Mail Company, via the Panama route
° New Zealand and Australia, having now been in
°Pera.tion over 12 months, satisfaction is expressed
tat the successful manner in which the service, em-
isfaciug the long ocean voyage from Panama to
e el"*Zealand, and vice versa, has been, from the
t'raltencoment, performed.
orYland'a Iron Trade Circular, dated 19th inst.,
ates that the general iron trade has this week
14°Ivil some susceptibility of the depression existing
all markets, abroad and at home. Dealings of
kinds
concert (not entirely concluded) have been dis-
fa;ted, and the distrust pervading the mai:lu-
lu4'll2lllg districts, no longer vague—for several
be-ed examples in the past week have shown it to
Well mmery founded—entirely precludes the opening of
Eos transactions. Prices of pigs stand, but are not
,rlll ; Cleveland and Welsh particularly showing
offaeBs. Bars are dull, but finished iron is going
There are several large orders for rails and
rati;raY. castings about ; but the terms offered, or
tot we should say, the conditions imposed, are
exr),llell as find favour with ironmasters after late
r`,ences• The postponement in paying accounts
1,115 a.waYs is becoming too much the rule, and not
velAieleePtioia, as heretofore. Hence serious incon-
traefe.llee to large houses in the trade, and the ma-
il on of business now under consideration. The
Progrmies slowly under present circuin-
`B*
oilier cheek The foreign trade has this week received
.

Two o'CLocK.

tholli,e°tcling to Reuter's telegram this morning,
smaer,,eac.sh,ltentes were G7f. 85f. Great agitation ;
the I, (1Y considerable animation has prevailed on
the ris Bourse and on the Stock Exchange. At
cliu°P°nitig Consols were as low as 93 a do"
- ti Per cent. and great agitation, but
q,)(jeeiPt of higher prices from Paris, dated
ae P.m.) a reaction immediately commenced
Pel Court, The Funds have recovered,