Northern Markets.
New York, Dec. 29.
--Stocks are better; Chicago and Rock Island 59¼; Illinois Central Shares 69; do. bonds, 91; Michigan Southern, 32; New York Central, 75; Reading, 35½; Cantons Company, 14; Virginia 6's, 76½; Missouri 6's 68.
Cotton firm — sales of 5,000 bales; uplands middlings 10¼@10½.
Flour firm, sales of 9,500 barrels. Wheat dull, sales of 58,000 bushels--Illinois white $1.42. Corn firm, sales of 5,800 bushels — mixed 69@71 cents. Beef dull.
Pork steady.
Lard firm.
Sales of 1,000 barrels at 10¼ @10 5/8.
Whiskey steady, sales 23,000 barrels. Naval stores firm.
Sales in New York, Dec. 29, of $10,000 Virginia 6's at 77; $4,000 do. at 76½; $4,000 Tennessee 6's at 74, and $15,000 Missouri 6's at 68 3/8@68½.
Baltimore cattle market.
Baltimore, Dec. 28.
--The receipts of beef cattle yesterday were light, the offerings at the scales amounting to only 550 head, against 950 head last week; and of this number 150 were driven to Philadelphia, and the remaining 400 were taken by Baltimore butchers at prices ranging from $3 to $4.87½, averaging $3.44 per 100 pounds gross.
Very few cattle were sold, however, at the outside rate.
Hogs continue in light supply.
They are selling to butchers at $6.75@ $7 per 100 pounds nett, but the packers are doing nothing in them, the prices asked being above their views.
Sheep are still selling at $3.50@$4.50 per 100 pounds gross, but the market for them is not active. 