Evening star., 1932-01-04
BONDS ARE LOWER
IN LIGHT TURNOVER
Market Declines Easily After
Irregular Opening-Some
Support Appears.
BY F. III. RICHARDSON.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK, January 4.-Today S
bond market worked lower, depressed
by weakness In stocks and by gen.
eral gloomy atmosphere in Wall Street.
Trading was not in heavy volume.
The opening was irregular. There
was pressure from the start on con-
vertible bonds that have direct con-
nection with stock prices And to some
extent speculative issues that have in
past months acquired the habit of
moving with stocks also went lower.
But there were still plenty of signs of
good buying in many issues, partic-
ularly those of the seasoned variety.
The bond market was also affected by
the uncertainty that still pervades the
foreign situation. The statement Of
Undersecretary of State Castle that the
Hoover administration intends to pro-
tect as far as possible loans made IN
good faith in foreign countries had lit
tie effect. The announcement also con-
tanned a warning to the public not to
expect too much from the Geneva Dis
armament Conference and indicated
that the nations attending the Lausanne
Debt Conference must take the lead in
Europe'S regeneration.
Then again, the Sino-Japanese mud
die in Manchuria combined with the
new outbreaks in India to unSettle both
commodity and foreign dollar bond
prices. British 512s dropped more than
point, paralleling a decline in sterling
exchange. German government bonds
started higher, sagged heavily and then
recovered again. Other European de-
scriptionS reflected the general pessi-
miSm. Canadian government bonds and
issues guaranteed by the Canadian gov
ernment were off fractionally.
Japanese issues, while evidently still
supported by organized operations, were
under pressure. South American issues
f1rmed on the unexpected payment of
coupons on number of issues. Antio-
quia paid the interest on all series of
her obligations due. This was unex-
pected, because of the extreme difficulty
of securing foreign exchange with which
to make payments The City of Monte
video and other South American States
and municipalities also made payments
In the domestic list the rails again re-
ceived the most attention Baltimore &
Ohio 412s of 1860, a convertible bond,
were down about 4 points at one time
as other obligations of the same road
declined. These losses were partly re-
traced later. Declines of to points
occurred in Erie SIS, Nickel Plate 412s,
Frisco Prior Lien A 4s, Rock Island re-
funding As and many other junior rail
issues. Frisco issues were under parti-
cular pressure because Of the roads
omission of tax payments in three
States. even though the money so saved
was to be applied to bond interest and
maturities.
Bonds were irregular at the opening.
The influence of lower stock market
undoubtedly had something to do with
the selling in spots, but there was every
evidence of good volume of reinvest-
ment buying as well. This was espe-
cially noticeable in well seasoned de-
Scriptions such as National Dairy Prod
ucts 5l4s, Pennsylvania Consolidated
4K4s and American Telephone S. On
the other hand, such bonds as South
ern Railway As, Utilities Power g. Light
SIS and Missouri-Pacific IS, which all
have had heavy declines in recent
months, were again under pressure
In the foreign list, British SIPS re-
flected weaker tone in sterling ex-
change with a loss of more than a
point. Most European bonds were firm
to shade higher. South Americans
and Japanese issues were unchanged.