The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-04-08
Estmaucral.
The Stock Market-It Closes a Shade
 Lower.

Lower.
 New York, April 1.-The conviction is evidently unaltered in Wall street that the delay in presenting the presi- dents message to congress adds to the possibilities of peaceful solution of the Cuban question. The market clos ed a shade lower to-day in the aver age price. Individual losses were in almost all cases confined to fractions, and there is a fair sprinlxling of gains among leading stocks. Only small proportion of the sharp advance which came with yesterdays news that the message was to be delayed until Mon- | day was wiped out The professional bears showed no disposition to renew | their short contracts. Neither was l there any sign of liquidation of long | holdings.
 The only buying demand was caused ! by some slight covering of shorts and a very limited amount of commission | house buying. The result was an all | most stagnant market. There was no development of the day which awak- ened it from it's lethargic condition. l That this dullness is due to an atti-. | tude of waiting was evident from the sudden activity when it became known yesterday that the presidents message was delayed and when it was supposed that the delay indicated probable con- sessions by the Madrid government. The public impression in Wall street | s1 of ;,, the market is due to some hidden mo- tive, generally supposed to be the ex- pectation that Spain will yield to pres sure from the European powers and from the pope and will concede the de- mands of the United States.
 1 To-day's small losses in face of the generally threatening aspect of the situation can only be explained on the l hypothesis that a peaceful solution is still hoped for There was, however, a | demonstration in yesterdays late bulge that large offerings to realize are brought out by any sharp advance in l prices Professional operators on eith- CT side are warily watching for the definite development of the situation. It is thought possible that the liqui- dation usually incident to a war scare is waiting for the expected heavy de- mand from the large short interest l which undoubtedly exists in the mar ket. This short interest IS waiting for an actual declaration of war to cover. On the other hand, there are those who hold that actual war has already been sufficiently discounted and that the firmness in the market is due to this cause.
 The situation in the money market is felt to be one fortified against even a severe shock. Bank reserves all over the country have been greatly strengthened. The gold reserve, both of the government and of the New York banks, is large, unprecedently so in the case of the latter, and is con stantly growing. A large proportion I of the payments at the custom house are made in gold, and the clearing house balances are in great part set tied in the same metal. There is no immediate prospect of the internation- al exchanges turning against the Unit ed States, and until this occurs there will be gold imports to replenish the money market. To-day's advance in the Bank of England rate did not check the engagements of gold, but served to shift the demand somewhat from Lon- don to Berlin. The rise in money in London resulted in a rise in the Ber- lin and Paris rate of exchange on Lon- don.
 The bond market was almost wholly neglected, but prices were firm. Total
 sales S1.050.000.
 JIY,tf cd tof fac 11ny Ixro1a oaI
 per cent, the old fours registered F
 and the fives 4 per cent. in the bid
 price to-day, and the twos declined F
 per cent. There were sales of the new fours coupons at 122A, an advance of %
 over yesterdays sale price. To-day s
 last price was 122.