ADR Report: ADRs Close Mixed With BP Down While Siemens Gains

14th Jun 2010 21:49

By David Benoit Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--International companies trading in New York ended the day mixed, with slight gains in the European and Asian indexes offset partially by losses in Latin America and emerging markets. The Bank of New York index of ADRs gained 0.3% to 117.56. Shares of BP Plc (BP. BP.LN) remained in focus as they again fell, erasing some gains from late last week, as investors fretted over how additional funding demands from the U.S. to pay for damages from the oil spill could impact the oil giant. The action came as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) and members of the Democratic caucus on Monday asked BP to set aside $20 billion in a special account to be used to pay for economic damages and clean-up costs of the spill in the Gulf Coast. Shares fell 9.7% to $30.67. The European index rose 0.5% to 105.91. Siemens AG (SI, SIE.XE) said it will deliver turbines for gas-fired power plants to a Florida-based utility, using technology it hopes will give the German engineering company an edge over competitors in supplying electricity producers with more environment-friendly equipment. Siemens also said it expects a slight recovery for demand of power-plant equipment, which plummeted during the financial and economic crisis as customers postponed plans to build or upgrade power stations due to a fall in energy consumption. Shares gained 3.1% to $93.30. U.S.-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) said it has signed agreements to partner with clinical-development-services companies Parexel International Corp. (PRXL) and Dublin-based Icon PLC (ICLR, IJF.DB). Financial terms of the deals weren't disclosed. Under the agreements, the researchers will provide support for Bristol-Myers' clinical studies with regards to its full development pipeline for the next three years. Icon rose 4.5% to $28.36. Central Bank of Ireland Governor Patrick Honohan said the country's authorities now have a "good picture" of the scale of banking losses, but that there will be further losses related to smaller loans. Honohan, who also sits on the European Central Bank's governing council, said homegrown factors accounted for around three quarters of Ireland's current downturn. Allied Irish Banks PLC (AIB, ALBK.DB) rose 7.5% to $2.44 while Bank of Ireland (IRE) added just a penny to $4.05. The Latin American index fell 0.9% to 350.30. Trading resumed Monday in shares of Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB (PAC, GAP.MX), nearly two weeks after being suspended following a series of disagreements among shareholders. The Mexican stock exchange said the Banking and Securities Commission ordered the resumption of trading in the shares after the company provided required information. Shareholders of the airport group, known locally as GAP, disagreed at meetings in late April over proposed dividends and a planned capital reduction, as well as over the appointments of independent board members. The shares rose 0.9% to $33.07. Brazilian federal oil company Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, will explore for oil off the coast of the Cape Verde, the island nation's prime minister said. The exploration accord will be part of a package of measures between Brazil and Cape Verde that will be signed during Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit in July, Cape Verde Prime Minister Jose Maria das Neves told the local Estado news agency. Shares fell 2.9% to $37.21. The Asian index gained 0.6% to 118.27. Operations at a Honda Motor Co. (HMC, 7267.TO) parts factory in southern China were expected to return to normal Monday after nearly a week of disruption over a pay dispute, company and local officials said. The Honda Lock factory in the southern province of Guangdong is one of a string of factories in China--and the third in the Honda family--hit by a wave of industrial unrest in the so-called "workshop of the world." Shares of the auto maker rose 3.3% to $29.65. South Korean electronics firm LG Display Co. (LPL, 034220.SE) said it will set up a $5 million e-book joint venture in China with MP3 player manufacturer Iriver Ltd. (060570.KRX). LG Display will own 51% of the joint business, L&I Electric Technology (Dongguan) Ltd., while Iriver will hold the remaining 49%. L&I Electric Technology will start production at Iriver's existing Dongguan e-book plant in September and will increase production to one million e-books a year by 2011, LG Display said in a statement. The Dongguan plant produces more than 30,000 units a month of e-books. Shares of LG gained 1.9% to $17.03. The emerging market index slipped 0.3% to 289.54. Wipro Technologies, the information technology services division of Wipro Ltd. (WIT, 07685.BY), said its business process outsourcing unit has set up a partnership with Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) to provide global legal process outsourcing services for the software giant's intellectual property portfolio. Financial details weren't disclosed, but shares of the Indian software-services company rose 3.8% to $21.27. Gold prices declined some, as stocks rallied when investors took on more risk, leading to slight drops in the prices of South Africa's gold mining companies. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI, GFI.JO) fell 0.5% to $13.36 while Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY, HAR.JO) dropped 1.2% to $9.65 and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU, ANG.JO) slipped less than 1% to $42.26. -By David Benoit, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2458; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 14, 2010 16:49 ET (20:49 GMT)