The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-12-15
THE STOCK MARK EFT
Rumor of Relief of Ladysmith Lightens
 the Depression.


 New York, Dec. H.-Expectations of
 a further stress of liquidation in the
 stock market were not disappointed this
 morning. Large blocks of stock were
 thrown upon the market at the outset and the bears were very bold and de- ] termined in offering prices down. There
 was not so acute a pressure to realize [ as on yesterday, however, and the mar
 ket did not at any time take on the
 extreme demoralization of yesterday. About noon the bears had relinquished | their extreme position. The conflict of l speculative interests was a fierce one | before the issue was decided and prices moved both ways at once in the open- l ing market and never long in one di- | rection. The determined support in l Sugar was notice to the bears from 1 the outset that they were not to have | things all their own way and though | they wiped out Sugars opening rise in short order and made heavy inroads at other points in the industrial list and even forced St. Paul 1-2 point below yesterdays low level for the year. the absorptive power of the steady buying demand proved too much for the reac- tionists. Subsequent attacks were made upon the Iron and Steel stocks,
 the New York city specialties, and in fact upon every stock where any infor- nation could be had of heavy account on the long side with the hope of wip- ing out margins and forcing liquidation The success achieved must have been very moderate, judging from the almost complete recoveries which were caused in nearly all cases when the shorts be- gan to cover. It was noticeable on the other hand that the buying demand died away at the higher level of prices achieved. This encouraged renewed eff forts by the bears up to the period of the last reaction, when they refrained from attacking the market and the clos ing was firm near the top level at sub stantial net gains all through the list. The outlook In the London money mar ket continued to offer the keynote to the speculative situation. The failure to advance the official rate of discount by the Bank of England in itself of- fered a suggestion of relief from yes- terday's acute apprehension of gold ex- ports from here, though the belief con- tinued during the morning that gold would go out by Saturdays steamers. The treasury departments offer to fore go the rebate hitherto demanded before the payment of January 1 interest had a sentimental effect in of the market. The total amount of interest involved is $5,500000 and it's availability, it was believed, would make the withdrawal of any sold for export less felt Then came the buoyant outburst in the English mar ket on the widely disseminated rumor of the relief of Ladysmith and a large capture of Boers This served to brighten the feeling in London and oc- casioned a heavy demand for Ameri- cans. Orders were cabled to New York long after the usual hours and London's total purchases for the day were run up to 60,000 shares Sterling exchange responded with a drop of over half cent in the pound. Additional gold was received here to-day by the branches of Canadian banks. The relief thus af- forded to fears of gold shipments was tn dominant factor in the late strength of the market. ,4re
 Bonds rallied from early weakness in