The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-01-18
UNEASY STEEL SHARES
THEY HAVE AN UNsETTLING INF'LU-
ENCE ON THE WHOLE LIST.
Except for N Brief Period the Market
Was Very Weak-Rai1road CAL
culations Badly Upset.

At Now York yesterday money on cali
was easier at 2Qs per cent; last loan.
per cent
Prime mercantile paper. 405 per cent
Sterling exchange was firmcr. with actual
business I'm bankers bills at $is744S7ls for
demand and S4Ssss for sixty days; posted
rates. sLSid4S4lk and siSS: commercial
bills, s4s21kGAS2A.
Silver certificates were Giiz@65lzc; bar sill
yer. e3Ssc: Mexican dollars. 491zc. Bar sill
yer at London was % Sled an ounce.
The state of mind of the spectators yes
terday was one of extreme nervousness
The cloud of distrust was somewhat dis
persed during the course Of the day and
prices were laboriously lifted to a level
above wednesday night. but uneasiness
Cured in the late dealings and the mar
ket closed with urgent selling in force and
with violent and disorderly breaks in
number of important stocks. The ex-
cessive confusion of the price movement
during the early part of the day served
to put spectators long of stock in state
of bewilderment. There was bold and pow
erful manipulation used to support prices
and to dissuade holders from selling. The
extreme dullness into which the market
fell after the early selling movement had
been checked was proof of the success
achieved by this maneuver, but when II
began to appear that the marking up OF
prices had been simply for the purpose of
affording a market to realize on the
pressure to sell became urgent again. lead
ing to the final break. The opening weak
ness was most marked in the steel group,
and the conditions among the great steer
corporations continued to excite grave un-
easiness during the session. The CONVICTION
Is taking form In speculative circles that
a war between the steel companies Is dam
gerously imminent, which If il comes will
demoralize earnings in the trade. Federal
Steel had a further decline of 3s and Fed
eral Steel preferred of points on account
of this fear and declines in other men,
bers of the group ranged from one TO three
points. Meantime manfpuiative. support
was effective in other parts OF the list. and
Sugar. Peoples Gas. st. Paul, Manhattan
and a number of the Pacifics and the
Southwesterns were lifted from one to two
points. Then support was accorded to the
steel stocks. and the principal members
of the group, including Federal Steel, Tin
Plate, Steel and Wire and Smelling, were
Meantime there was realizing In the rail-
| road list and prices generally fell away
there, with occasional exceptions which
were held up as a support to the market
| In the final slump the whole list fell again,
| with few exceptions. below Wednesday
night. There were such violent breaks as
| AZ In Baltimore & Ohio 424 in Manhattan.
| So. In Brooklyn Transit and Great North
| ern preferred, 3A in Sugar and PA in St
| Paul and New York Central. Many of the
railroad stocks We're at the lowest when
+! the market closed. The statement of Pres
| ident Hill, of the Great Northern, that he
| had never owned share of st. Paul stock
/ I'm his life had greatly unsettling infiu-
/ ence on spectators who had worked in the
1 conviction that st. Paul had passed TO the
| control of the Great Northern and North
| ern Pacific. The declaration of a 2 per
| cent. dividend on New York, Chicago &
| St. Louis second preferred, where all the
way from 21a to per cent. had been con-
| fidentiy predicted, caused a readjustment
| of ideas to large number of analogous
| cases. The money supply continues super
| abundant, but the growing belief that a
notable outward movement of gold has
| begun served as an additional drag on the
market
| The bond market was rather quiet and
/ irregular Total sales at par value were
| 81 Co., United States bonds were all I'M
1 changed on the last call.
1 Following are she days share sales and
/ the closing bid prices: