FINANCIAL NOTES,
DISTURBED MARKETS.
IT would seem that the Stock Markets are destined to be dominated by external influences. The Spanish War con- tinues, but for the moment even that depressing influence upon markets has been exceeded by the anxiety occasioned by developments in the Far East. It was not until Monday in this week that anxiety concerning the Far Eastern situation became acute, although prices of Chinese and Japanese stocks had begun to fall some weeks previously. As shown in an adjoining column, the fall has now become very severe and, taking a view of markets as a whole, it must be remembered that, whereas, say, a twelve-month ago, optimism was aided by the fact that prices of almost all securities held by British investors had advanced considerably, the setback of the past few months has been so pronounced as to remove this buoyant feeling from the security markets, notwithstanding the continued activity of home trade—an activity, however, which, it has always to be remembered, owes much to the present Government expenditure on armaments.
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