Mar, 11.
The two earlier piece goons auctions of the week were rather irregular with a tendency toward the weak side, declining apprecia ably; but a revival was evident in the better prices that ruled at the Yuenfong auction on Thursday where conditions showed a marked improvement.
A fair amount' of business was Joao wt the Kungping auction on tuesday, but at sughty lower prices toan the previous week, and clearances were fair but not so good as last week. 1t is thought that at least half of the sales were to speculators wno took advantage of the low prices, with the expectation tnat higher prices will be. inevit-abie, Lhe tone of the market on the whole was bright, and brisk business was done.
It is of interest to note that inquiries and orders have been coming from the river ports, and that merchants at Hankow, and even from Changsha, are starting to buy. Considering that nothing was heard from that district last week, that up-river orders are coming in week 1s taken to mean a restoration of confidence as regards the Yunnan situation, and as was noticed last week, these piece goods inquiries from the up-river section were preceded by orders for yarn. The north seems not yet settled down to business since the Chinese New Year, and but little has been done with the northern markets. The fact is that the dealers bought to their full requirements at the inflated prices that ruled immediately after the holiday:
Kungping:—At this Tuesday auction, although the undertone was bright and business was brisk, there was no special feature. Black Italians on the average were about one mace up, erians and velvets were a trifle lower on the average, and greys and whites were see-sawish, up and down, but steady on the average Ewo:—Things were dull at this auction on Wednesday, Prices on the average were down all round, and clearances were poor.
Yuenfong:—The market showed considerable improvement here on Thursday. Blacks were distinctly better than last week, being advanced from two to four mace, say OF
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.