Shanghai, May 30.
After having advanced' for four consecutive sessions, stocks broke rather sharply on Tuesday simultaneously with 9 severe drop in rain. prices and moved irregularly thereafter. The reaction was perhaps only natural after the recent alns but was also due to disappoint ment over the behavior of rail seues and the apparent tendency in this Meld for operating expenses to Increase more rapidly than income. There was no indication of import ant liquidation but profit-taking and professional selling were evident on all bulges. The volume of trading remained unusually small part ly" Im anticipation of the two hol days over the week-end, but also through a desire on the part. of jeFs to romain on the sidelines until legislative uncertainties are Commodities were generally on the easy side and the Dow-Jones index for" this group on Tuesday was at Its lowest gute since the middle of November. Corn ruled strong on tight spot situation. Wheat broke fon Feports of rain in Canada and the Western part of the United Slates though some observers be-Heve that the benefit from these rains has been exaggerated. Colton crop. prospects were also improved by rainfall and with large stocks of raw materials and new mill business slackening, prices were Irregular. Rubber was quiet, and in view of the seasonal decline in consumption and the failure of the International " Rubber Restriction Committee to take any action with reference to quotas, there was little buying demand.
Business activity was well maintained despite some reduction in production caused by labour troubles. The steel industry, according to Dun Bradstreet, is currently. leading the "recovery and 1937" may be best year in history. Total production will probably" run around €6,000,000 tons as compared with 47,707,856 last year. On Monday the Supreme Court upheld the Unemployment Insurance and the Old Age Pension provisions of the Social Security Act and on the same day President Roosevelt sent a special message to Congress recommending the enactment of minimum wage and maximum work-hour—legislation which would prohibit from interstate [commerce goods not produced under orth Amor, ce, ly. Bae soe Commodity prices:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.