The sun., 1919-04-25
FINANCIAL NEWS
+ AND COMMENT
Trading in Stocks, Although
on Slightly Reduced Scale,
Is Still Heavy.
PRESSURE Is INCREASED
Standards Show Average Price
Losses of q Point and
Spccialties More.
PRESSURE Is INCREASED

IN stock market of similar. bu,
more extraordinary features than the
one several days ago when the spec,a,ty
shares had their first reaction az n re-
SUIT or the congested speculative &C.
count Tor Issues in this quarter OF the
nst' Indications were furnished yes,er-
gay OF moro and substantial read
lustment of position than has taken
place lately. Dealings, although stIil
maintained on the million share ,ewei
were on n scale OF slightly decreased
ACTIVITY, and during the last half OF
the session the transactions represented
great pressure on large group OF
| STOCKS The reactionary movement
made rapid progress In a few depart
ments, but the great majority of issues
sun held well In spite OF the feeling
mat there may be some revulsion of
sentiment In consequence of the djvI.
dend action on Steel next week. Aver
age losses In the standard shares were
ABOUT point all around, with some OF
the special issues showing larger and
more extensive breaks. On the othe,
hand there wereua- number of individual
| issues which continued to maintain
their strength.
so far as the days news was con-
| cerned there were several items which
could have accounted for the furry in
l
news of the withdrawal of Italy from
the Peace Conference. and still another
was report that Japan would withdraw
| as well as Italy. But II these develop
ments had anything to do with the days
| movement of prices, they were the acct
! dental and not the real reason for the
decline, for It has been perfectly ap-
parent for several days past that the
| speculative account on the constructive
hn nrI. ~ hnl
| congested to permit the market to con-
tinue Its advance without substantial
| reaction. In addition to all OF this there
was feeling that the Steel meeting next
| Tuesday may result in some revulsion
OF the bullish feeling that has prevailed
N the financial community for the past
! month or more, providing of course that
the earning statement Is poor and the
| dividend extra Is cut off as expected.
! This was especially apparent in the case
of Steel common which, In spite Of its
, strength earlier in the day, closed at
| about par or within the SO called trad
| Ing era. In SO far as the news Of the
Peace Conference was concerned. Wall
| Street was disposed to feel that, what
| ever the outcome of the present situa-
1 ton. Italy will be among those nations
TO sign the peace treaty when the docu-
| ment is finally ready for approval
As on the preceding day the main
| selling pressure in the market was in
| the steel shares. There were numerous
| other standard issues which felt tho
| selling pressure to some extent. but Steel
| itself was the principal target OF the
| traders, and at the same time lead the
| rest of the list In the reactionary move
| ment in the last hour. In addition to the
| selling in Steel there was further pres
| sure in the minor industrial. the rails
| and the copper issues, although not 10
| the same extent as in the active specu-
| lative features. On the other hand, there
were a number of special issues which
| held their ground well in spite of the
| action OF the general list. These In
| Guided the Royal Dutch shares, which
were very conspicuous features Of the
| trading; the leather shares. Texas and
Pacific and some Of the lower priced
rails which have been attracting more
than the usual amount Of attention lately
on account of the prospects for oils on
| some of their Western properties. The
other rails were generally neglected and
| as has been the ase all along, here and
| there could be detected some traces OF
| liquidation.
The money market continued quiet and
unchanged, and no change Is to be ex-
| pected so long as the banking commu-
| nifty is engaged in the task Of floating
| the Victory Loan. Business in time
! money was largely confined to renewals
/ and call rates were on an unchanged
| level. The outstanding feature OF the
| foreign exchange market was the weak
ness in francs and Italian lire. This re-
| hected to some extent the overnight
news of the withdrawal Of the Italian
delegates from the conference. The
weekly statement of the Bank Of Eng
land disclosed proportion Of reserve to
| liabilities Of 1890 per cent,