Evening star., 1926-01-24
DAY Of CONTRASTS
IN STOCK MARKET
IndustriaIs Buoyant. While
Some Rails Are Weak.
U. S. Steel Bought.
By the Associated Press

bN me Assotldieu l4tNS
NEW YOk. January 23.--Buuyancy
if the high-p priced industriais. several
lf which advanced two to nearly five
points and the heavincss OF The com.
mon stocks of the Rock Island and
Frisco railroads following the an
uouncement Of a plan 20 merge those
Two properties, We're he contra sting
t..:Ires of today's stock market.
7'rices in general pointed upward with
..ding in moderate VO:lline. the day =
isles totaiing 7I1..00 shares.
The sharp reduction in brokers
loans during the past two weeks,
which undoubtedly was accelerated by
The decision of the Federal Reserve
and New York Stock Exchange au-
thorities to make them public and the
easing of time money rates had Il
bullish effect on speculative sentiment.
United States Steel common was
again heavily bought il the hope that
directors would adopr a more liberal
dividend policy at next Tuesdays
meeting.
Other Markets Mixed.
The commodity markets were mix
ed. Cotton rallied Sl.50 and s. 90
a bale on short coverings following
the publication of the Governments
ginning report, but lost most Of the
gain on protit-taking. closing quota
lions disclosing net 60 ins of II TO II
points. Active wheat futures closed
less than a cent lower The sugar and
coffee markets displayed a firm under
tone.
Among the so-called rich mems in
dustrlals" to show substantial gains
nn the day were American Can, Cal
ifornia Packing, du Pont, General
Electric. Otis Elevator. Sears Roe
buck; South Porto Ric3n Sugar. L. s.
Cast Iron Pipe Westinghouse Air
Brake and Woolworth.
Demand for the oil shares was slim
ulated by rumors of new mergers ard
expectations of an early increase in
midcontinent crude prices. Atlantic.
Gulf and West Indies. Houston. In
dian Refining. Maria nd. Skelly Sun
and Tidewater all closed ii point or
more higher. Mercha ndisinS issues
were in better deman nd as a result of
the optimistic tone of the weekly mer-
cantile reports.
Rail Trading Restricted.
Trading in the rails was restricted
by the heavineSs of the latest merger
stocks. Frisco common closed Is
lower, at 90. after selling at 9SI.. and
loss of IL, at 55s4. after fluctuating
between 5S. the opening price, and
55h Delaware and Hudson broke
nearly points in reflection of specu-
lative disappointment over the failure
of the latest efforts to bring about
resumption of anthracite mining.
Atchison and Norfolk and Western
showed independent strength.
Foreign exchanges moved within
rather narrow and irregular limits
with trading quiet. Demand sterling
ruled around S4.S5a4 and French
francs just below 3.l5 cents. Japa
nese ven We're uncha nged at 4i34.
Reserve Position Strong.
The weekly clearing house state
ment showed a strong reserve posi-
ton, excess reserve totaling S"6, I'll
$50. an increase of 1911. $40 above that
Of last week Aggregate reserve was
s6o4S13. 900 The detailed statement
showed decreases S56 1000 in loans,
DISCOUNTS and investments: s3.GbS.OOO
in reserve in Federal Reserve Bank of
member banks: So. 2.39T 900 in net de-
,nand deposits. and S4.Sl 1000 in time
deposits Cash in own vaults showed
Gain of 81 30S 600