The majority of merchants are holding back to see how the market opens and there have been very few orders, the lack being made more noticeable on account of the north, and Tientsin in particular, doing practically nothing. Possibly the fact that there is still a big quantity of goods to clear from the closing auctions of the China year has something to do with this aloofness. Anyway, there has been no great enthusiasm, though values remain steady. Speculat are operating warily, probably owing to the firmer exchange and the sales to date are mainly for immediate consumption. All seem to be certain that prices shortly will be much higher. The Manchester market is very firm again, COTTON AND YARN, Local Cotton.—There have not been many sales, but the local product is keeping time with the advance of both American and Indian cotton and prices are going steadily higher. The latest quotations are:—
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.