Financial Notes
MONETARY CONDITIONS.
Tim strength of high-class investment securities has been well maintained during the past week, a circumstance due both to the great success of the Government's conversion operation and to easier monetary conditions following upon arrivals of gold from abroad. Since the beginning of the year the Bank has now gained over E.4,000,000 in gold, and we are back to about the same holding of the metal as at the time of our return to the Gold Standard in April, 1925. More- over, there have been some strong Bank Returns published, the latest Return showing a higher Reserve than for many years past. It is scarcely surprising, therefore, that there should have been a good deal of talk as to an early reduction in the Bank Rate and that high-class investment stocks, which were already predisposed to advance, should have been influenced by such rumours. All the same, the market, perhaps, would have done well to have paid equal attention to other factors in the situation such as the uncertain tendency of the American exchange and the very large French balances in this country, both flictors suggesting caution with regard to our monetary policy. * * * *
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