MONEY MARKET.
STOCK EXCELLNOE, FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
A notice was this morning received here from the Exchequer, calling in all Exchequer Bills dated prior to March 1842, which are to be sent into the Exche- quer Bill Office, Palace Yard, on (,r before the 6th March next. New Bills will he delivered in exchange on the 17th March, hearing interest at the rate of ud. per diem. The redaction thus effected in the interest is from 2id. to lid. a day, or 15s. lid. per cent per annum. No further reduction of interest can take place till June next, at which period the bills now bearing an interest of 2d. per day arrive at maturity ; when new Bills will be issued in exchange for those now current, at the rate of lid., or perhaps of lid. per day. The de- cline in the premium of Exchequer Bills has not been great. June Bills, or those bearing 2d. per day, have been unaffected ; the premium being 63s. to 65s., which has been the quotation for the last two or three days; while or advertised bills, which will soon bear an interest of only led., are Us. to 64s. premium. When this notice was first made public, the Funds rose, and Consols for Account were at 95;; but the price gave way again in the course of the afternoon, and closes at 95 to ii both for Money and the Account. The Three-and-a-half per Cent Stocks have both improved ; New Three-and-a- half per Cents being quoted today at 191a, and Reduced Three-and-a half per Cents at 1024. It would hence appear that the alarm about the reduction of these Stocks is subsiding. The reduction of the interest upon Exche- quer Bills must, however, be considered as a preliminary step to it. An ex- traordinary advance has taken place in Bank Stock ; which rose in the last few days from 174 to 179, at which it was done yesterday. Today the price has fallen to 176, and it closes at 176 to 177. No reason could be assigned for the improvement ; there being nothing in the affairs of the Corporation to warrant a great or indeed any increase in the value of its stock. On the con- trary, the present position of monetary affairs is adverse to the Bank of Eng-
land, and indeed to every association making profits from the employment of money; as the present low rate of discount must materially curtail profits. A natural consequence of such curtailment, if continued, must be the diminu-
tion of dividend, and with it the value of the stock. We believe, however, the true explanation of the late rise is to be found in the fact of some specula-
tor having sold stock which he could not deliver; and as there was scarcely any floating in the market, he was not enabled to repurchase except at a great sacrifice.
The decision of the Government in the matter of the forged Exchequer Bills is precisely what we have always thought it would be—viz. to issue new
bills to all those holders of the forged securities who have been proved to have given value for them. The amount to be paid is 262,000/., leaving 72,000/., being the bills in Class No. 4 unprovided for. The recipients of the 262,000/. will be benefited to the extent of 3 per cent, being the difference between the premium of Exchequer Bills at the time the forgery was discovered and their present value. This determination of the Government has given universal satisfaction ; and, though it has been urged that this arrangement ought to have been concluded a year ago, the feeling of gratification experienced by holders was too general to allow any expression of complaint. Mr. WILLIAM MARINER, one of the parties included in Cla6 4, has published a statement of his connexion with Mr: RAPALLO and the spurious bills; by which, while he exonerates himself from all culpability, he pleads guilty to the charge of great
incaution in the transaction. • • -- •
The intelligence received on Monday from Lisbon caused a complete change in the value of Portuguese Converted Stock ; and the price, which bad been on Saturday at 39, fell on Monday to 37. The market speedily recovered itself; has since continued rising; improved on Wednesday to 391; and was yester- day as high as 40; but is lower to-day, and after being at 39, closes at 381 to 39." Letters were received from Oporto,' where the packet touched on her homeward voyage dated the 7th, saying that all was tranquil. • The next arrival is looked for with anxiety, but it is generally supposed that the intelli- gence willl be favourable. The adjustment of the dispute between the Go- vernments of Paris and. Madrid has caused a great improvement in Spanish Stock; the- Active Five per Cents having been at 191, and the Three per Cents af251. Both fell to-day per cent, but rallied again, and close at 25a for the Three per Cents, and 191 for the Five per Cents.
The transactions in other Foreign Stocks have not been important. Dutch Bonds support the advanced quotations of last week. Brazilian have advanced, and been done at 77. Columbian, the South American, and Mexican, are without material variation,
The business transacted in Railway Shares has been of a general and steady character. Most of the leading lines being now completed, the value of the Shares is no longer a matter ofspeculation ; being determined by the amount of tolls received, the increase or decrease of which is generally gradual: it is there- fore useless to expect now the fluctuations to which this description of security was liable while even the completion of some of the lines was problematical, and the expense of construction uncertain. There is a disposition to invest money in these Securities, and the operation of it has given an increased value to some of them : the Brighton, however, have declined about 11., being at 351; Birmingham are higher, viz. 206 ex-dividend, equal to 211; and Great Wes- tern are 94, equal to 29 premium.
SATURDAY. TWELVE o CLOCK.
The English Funds are without any variation or business of importance. The premium of Exchequer Bills; the same.
In the Foreign Market, Dutch Stock has improved 1 per cent ; the Five per Cents being 1031,' and the Two-and-a-half 54i i. Spanish Stock is A per cent lower in absence of any business of importance. Portuguese Bonds are it per cent higher ;-some purchases of small Bonds having occurred for the
Datelimarket. ' " , , • -- •- , - • The transactions in Shares have _been few: British North American Bank ___
are quoted at 411. The following transactians-have occurred in the Railway
Shares : Bristol and Exeter, 56 ; • Great Weiteria, 931 i; Ditto, Fifths, 171 ; Manchester and Birmingham, 251. • - •
- - SATURDAY, FOUR O'CLOCK.
-
There is no material change in either the English or Foreign Funds, and the business transacted has been unimportant. In the Foreign Market, Spanish Stock has recovered the ground it lost in the morning, and closes at the final quotations of yesterday. Our Share report indicates a fair quantity of business, as evinced by the following . transactions. Real Del Monte Mine Shares, Unregistered, 31. RailwaysBristol and Exeter, 561; Eastern Counties, 91 i; Brighton, 35/ i; Manchester and Leeds, 721 ' • Ditto, New, 32 311 ; Manchester and Birm- ingham; 251; Northern and Eastern, Scrip, 12; South-eastern, Scrip, 231. Banki—London and Westminster, 22"; ; Provincial of Ireland, 43.
3 per Cent Consols
95 4 Chilian Deferred 25 27 Ditto for Account
95 4
Colombian 6 per Cents.1824. 234 4 3 per Cent Reduced
951 I Danish 3 per Cents ..... .... 851 61 31 per Cent Ditto
1021 . Dutch 21 per Cents 541 1 New 31 per Cents.
1011 8 Ditto 5 per Cents 103 4 Bank Stock
176 7
Mexican 5 per Cents Gonad . 301 31 Exchequer Bills prem 63 5 Portuguese New 5 p. Cts.1841 I.9# I
India Stock
Russian 5 per Cents 115 116
Brazilian 5 per Cents
75 7
Spanish (Active) 5 per Cents. 19: 4 Belgian 5 per Cents
1038 41
Ditto 3 per Cents 1842 258 1 Chitin 6 per Cents 's
80 82
The return of the circulation of the United Kingdom for the four weeks ending 4th instant exhibits, as compared with the last, a net increase of 2,855-885/. ; nearly the whole of which is in the circulation of the
BANK OF ENGLAND, which has increased £2,825,000 The increase of the circulation of the Private Banks
in England 111,891 That of the Joint Stock Banks 78,096
In IRELAND, the circulation of the Bank of Ireland has
increased 74,345
That of the Private and Joint Stock Banks 17,700
Making an increase of 3,107,032 From which must be deducted the decrease in the Scotch circulation 151,147 Leaving the net increase £2,855,885
The amount of bullion in the Bank has, during the same period, decreased 71,000/. ; viz. from 11,054,0001., the amount as by last return, to 10,983,0001., the present amount.