Economic Outlook

AFTER the Christmas-New Year rec Sydney Stock Exchange re-opened January 2 to a day of frenzied bidding oil shares —the 5/- shares of Austra Oil and Gas Corporation Ltd. (which m an oil strike in December at Moonie, C and now is testing) rocketed to 75/-1 Prices of all other oil-seeking c panies lifted, too, including Pap Apinaipi which has an interest in 1 “Associated Group”, one partner of wl in December drilled a well yielding record flow of gas at Injune, Qld.

Within a few days, however, the exj ment had subsided —and prices, too;] most oil shares were still being qui in early January at well above their j closing prices.

The investment share market op« well; at January 5 “ordinaries” index! 304.3 (1961 index finished at 299.07). j tralia’s trade surplus of £117.2 mil for the six months, July 1 to Decen 31, 1961 (compared with a deficit £ 146.4 million for the correspom period of 1960) was one of the fac that encouraged stronger supportj industrials.

Market commenators say that this li like being the busiest merger year] Within a week of reopening, four m takeover bids were notified to the S Exchange, including a £23 mil proposal by Associated Securities Ltd. which W. R. Carpenter’s have an inter to a similar hire-purchase concern, 1 tralian Guarantee Corporation (40 cent, held by the Bank of NSW).

Sydney Sales Prices

Dec. 6. '61 Jan. 5j Bali Plantations . . 9/6 4/4 Burns Philp ... 91/- 92/6 Burns Philp (SS) . . 47/6 48/3 Choiseul Plntn. . . . 180/- 180/

C.S.R. Co

£58/5/- £ 59/1 Dylup Plantations . 7/- 6/8 Fiji Industries . . . 17/3 15/9 Hackshall’s ... 13/6 13/11 Kauri Timber ... 11/6 11/1 Kerema Rubber . . . 6/- 6/4 Koitaki Rubber . . . 15/3 15/1 Lolorua Rubber . . . 7/9 8/8 Makurapau Plntn. . 2/4 2/1 Mariboi Rubber . . . 7/1 8/3 Norfolk Is. Whaling . 2/4 2/6 Pacific Is. Timbers . 4/9 4/6 Palgrave 3/11 4/3 Plantation Holdings . 2/10 3/9; Queensland Insurance 110/- 112/6 Rubberlands ... 4/10 5/6 Sangara 2/3 2/9 Sogeri Rubber . . . 8/- 8/- Sthn. Pac. Insurance 32/6 38/i Steamships Trading . 42/6 40/- W. R. Carpenter Hold. 29/lOVa 30/3 Watkins Consolidated 5/5 5/3 Timor Oil 5/- 4/3! * Now 5/- share units

Oil And Mining Shares

Fiji

Dec. 4. ’58 Dec. 6. ’61 Jan. £ Emperor . . b9/b3/9 s6/4 Loloma . . b30/s45/b42/

Papua-New

Guinea

Bulolo G.D. b32/b65/b70/ N.G.G. Ltd. b2/3 bl/9 bl/1 Oil Search . b9/9 b2/5 b2/4 Oriomo Exp. — b3d b3d Ent. of N.G. slid s2y a d s4d Pac. I. Mines — b86/blOS Papuan Apin. b4/6 b3/l b4/l Placer Dev. b91/b229/b22S