The herald., 1897-08-01
ON 'CHANGE
What Was Done Yesterday on Wall
Street

NEW YORK, July 31.-Trading was in
clined to be erratic in today's stock mar
ket opening with some improvements, low
priced stocks being in special demand. 1t
became irregular and standard securities
eased off some on realizations, closing with
irregular fractional changes either way.
The London stock exchange being closed
today as well as Monday, arbitrage brok-
ers did nothing in this market. Northern
Pacific securities continued in heavy de
mand with the preferred rising 1B it be-
ing largely bought by house regarded as
representing important speculative inter-
est. Sugar was quiet and the grangers and
southwesterns rather Jagged. Some room
traders sold grangers because of the slaok-
ened demand for those shares on vague
stories of crop damage. The shares were
purchased on down scale and closed about
unchanged, as did wheat after it's early
morning advance. The stock market had
advanced SO long partly in anticipation of a
settlement of the tariff, that the enactment
thereof had no appreciable effect at the
beginning of the week. Stocks were irregu-
lar, but many advances were made on
constant increase in public interest, the
rise OF cents a bushel in the price Of
wheat and the enormous daily average
nearly 900 bushels of wheat, engaged
for export. A favorable feature was the
falling off of about q quarter million in the
imports and commercial agency reviews
showing increased business with western
jobbers, compared with last year, and that
nearly every northern city reported i'm
provement in business. The total trans
actions for the week were, in bonds, the
largest in the last two years. at advancing
prices. Unfavorable features were the
tagging of the iron market behind the i'm
provement noticed elsewhere and the clos
ing of many cotton mills, and especially
| ~-11
ernment bonds reflected the confidence in
making top price upwards, while stocks
and bonds, long neglected, were active at
higher figures, notably those of south and
southwestern railroads, owing to present
crop estimates and already improving
traffic. Altogether the market was broad
and many top records were scored. Re-
ports of earnings, both weekly and month
ly, gross and net, were generally pleasing
regardless of the existence of the great
bituminous coal strike. The early week s
markets were fairly well supported by COM
mission house buying. but professional
selling at the top brought quotations to a
lower plane. Sugar and Tobacco were ham,
mered fiercely. the former ultimately regis
tering an extreme loss of 91s per cent, Of
which 4 per cent was recovered in the sub
sequent dealings. Tobacco gained H. after
being alternately advanced and depressed
as suited the whims of the manipuators of
this speciality. The industrial group gen.
orally was less prominent in the dealings
the activity of, the traders being mostly
centered in the railways and usually dor
mant specialties The features of the sill
yer market was the fall in bars to &c 5-16d
in London on Wednesday and the CORE
spending fall to 57ss here. with Mexican
dollars down to 49, all low priced records
for the white metal. On covering of shorts
in London there was a partial recovery in
the silver market which subsequently
slumped closing at 57B for bars and '45h
for Mexican dollars. Money on call was
loaned generally at 1 per cent, with some
transactions at IA and small amounts at 2
per cent The supply of time money ex-
ceeded the demand. but the few trans
actions reported were at unchanged quo
tations. The sterling exchange market
was strong and warranted the shipment
of about 81, ,O00 900 gold. portion of which
was covered by sales of bills in the open
market. There was also an export of $780,
900 gold to Canada. The continent con.
tinues disposed to import gold, which goes
largely into the Bank of France. Actual
business in bankers bills closed at 4.87as
for demand and 4.S6A for sixty days. The
changes of two points and over for the
week show twenty advances. compared
with eight stocks showing losses. The
bond market was characterized by a wide