Market notes
CUSTOS
The ici interim report having pleased the bulls, though not satisfied the cynics, it was only natural for the market to boil over and wait for a fresh lead. It did not come from the Prime Minister's speech at Newport Docks which looked for further hardships this winter or from the Chancellor's speech at Cambridge which referred to the ill effects of the Suez Canal closure on our balance of payments. The trade returns this week may also have a damping rather than a cheering effect. There are also labour troubles at home as well as in America. Vauxhall has warned its workers that it may have to close down three factories because of the work-to-rule and overtime ban. Wall Street has so far stood up fairly well to the Ford Motor strike but it could break if the strike were pro- longed. If Mc Cecil King is to be taken seriously a strike is also not far off in our newspaper industry. It would be significant if the unions chose to strike at the Daily Mirror.
There is growing anxiety in the market that the Monopolies Commission will refuse to bless the merger proposed between United Drapery and Montague Burton. There was an ominous fall to 24s in Burton 'A' against the bid price of 29s 9d. Certainly the merger might upset some of the woollen manufacturers but a successful merger of these two great com- panies would surely increase rather than diminish the demand for cloth.
By contrast there was much more activity in the investment dollar premium which fell to 251-, moved up to 281 and down to 27. This marked activity in the life funds and invest- ment trusts raising dollar loans in New York and selling premium dollars.
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