The New York herald., 1921-08-05
FINANCIAL NEWS
AND COMMENT
Gains Among Specialties Part
" Offset Reactions in
Railroad Stocks.

Stocks slipped further back yesterday
/ into the dun state or business which
marked most Of the trading in July. the
\ days fluctuations being rather aimless.
/ Professional spectators continued to
I take profits in rails which impaired a
weak tone 70 them after steady first
hour. and there appeared to be re-
sumption OF short sales among Industrial
shares.
However press against steel,
sugar. rubber and equipment issues
brought out very little stock and at the
close there were numerous gains among
specialties which stood as partial off
set to reactions running from good sized
fractions to more than a point in the
rail group. Call money lent at 6 per
cent after starting at So per cent. a
stiffening tendency which had been fore
cast by the fact that the higher rate was
paid on Wednesday for loans made out
side the Stock Exchange.
More interest was attached to the for
eign exchanges and the commodities
than to stocks. For the first time in
nearly fortnight there was a genuine
rally of rates on European centres ster-
ling turning about from a condition of
sluggishness and advancing no less than
33s cents. while francs gained 13 points
70 7.76, and marks were in fair demand
at 1.25jA cents each. The rise Of sterling
49, +
active bidding than of a scarcity of Of
ferings.
In the last few days. export sales Of
grain have slackened with a consequent
bearing upon the output Of bills. and it
is probable that intimations from abroad
that Germany is preparing to send con-
siderable gold to this side in connection
with reparations payments and to estab-
lish credits had some effect upon eastern
European exchanges. This gold move
ment cannot yet be defined clearly. The
suggestion that it is Of Russian deriva-
tion ana actually was originally among
the Rumanian assets transferred To
Russia during the war Is plausible, but
in all the publicity about the worlds
gold in the last year it would seem that
such a stock of metal must have re
ceived definite mention before
In connection with gold the weekly
reserve bank statements disclosed an in
teresting movement indicating that the
other reserve institutions drew heavily
tLn
serve of the consolidated banks in
creased more than s21. .500.0 900. the hold
ings Of the New York bank declined
$40, 100000. largely through transfers in
the gold settlement fund.
This flow was the controlling element
in fall of the reserve ratio at New
York to the extent of per cent, the
proportion Of cash to deposit and note
Liabilities being 692 per cent. The gain
in gold by the system as a whole was the
primary force behind fresh advance Of
the reserve ratio from 63.4 to 63.7 per
cent, inasmuch as gross deposits in
creased s9,792.O0O and circulating re-
serve bank notes receded less than
s1,000,O0O. A decline os member bank
deposits with the New York bank
amounting to s2s.20o,oOO indicated that
correspondents OF institutions here had
drawn down their balances-a factor in
the hardening tendency OF the call loan
rate as the week progressed.
Wheat future prices declined 2 cents
a bushel at Chicago, the price move-
ment evidently rejecting the steady de-
livery of grain at primary market points.
An improved demand for spot cotton
on the locas market, coup:ed with re-
peated reports Of crop deterioration,
helped to carry cotton quota tions for
ward in a fairly brisk rally. Quotations
for futures left off 15 to 20 points high
er than the day before.