ADR Report: ADRs Close Mixed With Europe, Asia Weak

16th Jun 2010 22:31

By Adam Cancryn Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--International companies trading in New York closed mixed Wednesday, with slight losses in the European and Asian indexes offsetting gains in the Latin American and emerging markets indexes. The Bank of New York index of ADRs fell 0.3% to 120.81. Nokia Corp. (NOK, NOK1V.HE) weighed down the European index as the cellphone maker announced sales and profits would be lower than expected this quarter. Nokia attributed its lowered guidance to intensifying competition in the high-end market segment, a shift in its product mix towards devices with lower margins and the recent depreciation of the euro. Shares fell 11% to $8.77. BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said after a White House meeting with President Barack Obama that the company wouldn't pay further dividends this year and will look after the people of the Gulf coast. But Obama said "BP is a strong and viable company and it is in all of our interests that it remains so," increasing confidence in the company's financial viability. Shares rose 1.4% to $31.85. The European index lost 0.4% to 109. Nokia's profit warning dragged down European technology stocks, as shares of STMicroelectronics NV (STM, STM.MI), Elan Corp. (ELN, ELN.DB) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU, ALU.FR) all fell. Swiss semiconductor company STMicroelectronics lost 3.5% to $8.61 and Irish biotech company Elan Corp lost 2.1% to $5.04. Despite renewing its agreement with Belgian export credit agency Office National Ducroire Delcredere, French telecom equipment maker Alcatel Lucent's shares slipped 3.2% to $2.77. Deutsche Bank initiated U.K.-based biopharmaceutical company Shire PLC (SHPGY, SHP.LN) at buy. "Having navigated the loss of exclusivity on its best-selling drug, Adderall XR, Shire can look forward to a period of strong revenue and earnings growth, based on a rebound in its ADHD franchise and on rapid growth from its biologics-based human genetic therapies business," the firm said. Shire rose 1.3% to $64.38. The Latin American index increased 0.2% to 360.47. Latin America's biggest mobile operator, America Movil SAB (AMX, AMOV, AMX.MX), said it paid nearly 70 billion pesos ($5.54 billion) in cash and shares for a 93.6% stake in South America phone company Telmex Internacional SAB (TII, TIIA, TELINT.MX). The stake is enough to delist Telmex's shares from the New York Stock Exchange, but falls just short of the 95% required under Mexican law to delist it from the local bourse. Shares of Telmex fell 1.8% to $17.89. Minority shareholders of Brazilian telecommunications company Brasil Telecom SA (BTM, BRTO4.BR) rejected terms of a share swap offer by Tele Norte Leste Participacoes (TNE, TNLP4.BR), or Oi, the country's largest phone company. Oi was offering to swap shares in Brasil Telecom for shares in Telemar Norte Leste, a company which is part of the Oi group. Brasil Telecom's shares fell 3.7% to $20.28, while Oi's shares slipped 5% to $16.07. The Asian index declined 0.1% to 121.05. Chinese financial software developer Longtop Financial Technologies Ltd. (LFT) announced a sales and marketing relationship in China with Netezza Corp. (NZ). Longtop and Netezza will cooperate to offer Netezza's data warehouse appliance along with Longtop's decision support solutions for banking, insurance and securities companies. Longtop's shares gained 7.9% to $35.32. However, Chinese solar stocks finished mostly lower, weighing on the index. Solarfun Power Holdings Co. (SOLF) closed down 2.8% to $8.07 while China Sunergy Co. Ltd. (CSUN) lost 2.7% to $4.02. The emerging markets index rose 0.2% to 298.17. Brazilian mining giant Vale SA (VALE, VALE5.BR) and Germany's ThyssenKrupp Steel announced they will open Brazil's first new blast-furnace steelworks in 25 years, said to be the world's most expensive after delays and cost overruns inflated the original budget by 75%. Shares lost 1.6% to $27.34. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. (MTE, 500108.BY) intends to pay the 110.98 billion rupees ($2.39 billion) it owes the government for the third generation and broadband wireless internet radio bandwidth it received recently. The state-run company is raising money and "plans to issue some bonds as well," Kuldip Singh told Dow Jones Newswires. "We don't have any plans of requesting the government (for a fee waiver)." Shares jumped 10% to $2.68. -By Adam Cancryn, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3261; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 16, 2010 17:31 ET (21:31 GMT)