Financial Notes
UNCERTAIN MARKETS.
THE feature on the Stock Exchange at one time during the past week was the great buoyancy of gilt-edged securities, following upon the reduction in various Bank Rates. The fall in our own Bank Rate occurred on May 1st, when, ill accordance with usual custom, the Stock Exchange was closed. When, therefore, on the following day members returned to find that there had been a reduction in three leading Bank Rates, it is scarcely surprising that gilt-edged securities should have jumped up in rather dramatic fashion. Later, however, there was a material reaction, and in another column I discuss at greater length the general question of lower Bank Rates and the outlook for investment stocks. The other main factor Operating on markets diking the -week was the fresh slump in Wall Street following iipoft Some weeks. of renewed activity. At the moment of writing, prices on the other side of the Atlantic have rallied, but it looks as though the confidence of investors and speculators on the New York Stock Exchange has probably again suffered a considerable disturbance.
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