London, Mar. 6, The reduction of the Bank of England's discount rate to four per cent. which brings it down to. the lowest point since 1922, has. been received everywhere with _enthusiasm. The reduction is consider-
Jed as welcome tonic for the recent depression, especially on the Stock Exchange, where sentiment has improved considerably and where gilt-edged securities have—generally_ made substantial advances, The prospects of an unfavourable Budget formed one of the reasons ascribed as responsible for the recent slump on the Stock Exchange. Conditions had been steadily getting worse for a fortnight and the depression was accentuated on March 3, when the total value of the shares of three well-known com panies fell by £3,000,000 within a few hours, The financial correspondents of the newspapers declared that. the situation was not due to any finan: cial stringency, but to investors who favour gilt-edged and similar types of securities displaying shyness. to] buy industrial shares—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.