The New York herald., 1922-03-03
FINANCIAL NEWS
~ AND COMMENT
Stocks and Grains Advance
Vigorously. While Foreign
Exchanges Recede.

The foreign exchanges took their turn
Yesterday IN feeling the force OF exten-
sive profit taking sales. but while
sterling was receding about cents from
Wednesdays closing quotation and a
cents from this weeks maximum stocks
and grain resumed their advance with
considerable vigor. I'm all markets, as
in preceding sessions since last Satur-
day. Influences, largely technical, held
sway. Spectators in stocks discovered
early in the day that efforts to impart
a weak tone to Industrial share prices
side. and in the case OF grain the net
advances of 1a4 to 2ls cents a bushel in
wheat and cent a bushel in corn sug-
gested that Wednesdays setback was
Share prices were irregular for a time.
Early operations appeared to convince
professional traders that the way OF least
resistance was upward and heavy buy
ing from pool sources aided in bringing
advances OF u to more than points in
i fairly broad list Of sugar, automobile,
rubber. railroad equipment and steel is-
sues. The upturn was made easier by
an easement OF call money from AZ per
cent to per cent.
The stock market again commanded
the center Of the stage although the dip
and later recovery of several European
exchanges were interesting. The effect
Of easing money conditions was rather
by large and varied offerings of new
securities The days new issues were
fully as representative of business and
municipal loans as anything seen in
heavy financing of early January. and
the plain lesson taught by them was that
the demand for well founded loans has
not been checked. In London, too siz-
able bond offerings are being placed
rapidly. The signs point toward con-
siderable competition between New
York and London for foreign govern
ment, municipal and corporate loans in
the next few months. provided that
money rates remain as low overseas as
they have been of late
The weekly reserve statements threw
no new light on the money and credit
outlook except to the extent that other
Reserve banks drew heavily on the one
here through the gold settlement fund,
causing the ratio Of cash to deposit and
note liabilities to decline from S7.1 per
cent. to S4.1 per cent. A factor in that
change was an expansion Of S2O.4O0.O00
in gross deposits, and the systems de-
posits gained s46,24o.oo while circulat-
ing reserve notes were enlarged
S23,46e.000. Rediscounts declined In
respect TO New York and the system
The consolidated banks reserve ratio
was carried back IA per cent. to 76.7
per cent. The increase Of circulating
notes for the fifth successive week by
the New York bank and the fourth
week by the system hinted at larger
demand for currency in the process OF
slow growth OF general business.
While foreign exchanges slipped
downward rather quickly in the morn
ing, sterling going as low as AL, francs
under 80 and lire to $50, they recov-
cred rather easily before the close. The
resiliency OF sterling was especially
noticeable, as its last quotation for sight
drafts was 442h. Francs climbed back
to 911i2 and lire to 5.31 y. The weak
ness OF the German rate bore further
reparations payments. new low point
for the year was touched at Al u cent
mark.