ADR Report: Shares End Mixed As Europe, Asia See Weakness

18th Jun 2010 22:15

By Adam Cancryn Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--International companies trading in New York ended mixed Friday, with gains in the Latin American and emerging markets indexes offset by losses in the European and Asian indexes. The Bank of New York index of ADRs lost 0.2% to 120.72. French stocks saw weakness, with Sanofi-Aventis SA (SNY, SAN.FR) among the biggest decliners. Shares in the French drug company fell on market talk of an independent study pointing to cancer risks for its diabetes treatment Lantus. The company responded that the evidence so far has been inconclusive. Competitor Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO, NOVO-B.KO) may benefit from the study's results. Sanofi-Aventis shares slipped 4% to $30.44, while Novo Nordisk shares increased 3.3% to $84.45. France Telecom (FTE, FTE.FR) and geophysical company CGG Veritas (CGV, GA.FR) also fell, 1.6% to $18.97 and 1% to $21, respectively. The European index fell 0.3% to 109.27 despite strength in financial company shares. Spain's largest banks Banco Santander SA (STD, SAN.MC) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA, BBVA.MC) have the best ranking among the European financial entities rated by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors, reported news agency EFE late Thursday, citing Spanish government sources. Banco Santander rose 2.3% to $11.53 while Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria gained 4.7% to $11.50. Also ending higher were Irish banks Allied Irish Banks PLC (AIB, ALBK.DB), which ended up 14% to $2.94, and Bank of Ireland (IRE), which finished up 4% to $4.30. The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority said Thursday it will unveil plans at the beginning of next week to radically intensify supervision of banks and other financial institutions following a long period of weak oversight that left banks free to engage in risky lending and paved the way for a collapse of the financial sector. The plans for more intrusive supervision are designed to restore credibility to the Irish banking system and help aid the country's economic recovery and force a major shift in the way some banks operate. Meanwhile, German car maker Daimler AG (DDAIF, DAI.XE) announced its North American truck unit will invest $194 million to expand its engine production capacity in the Detroit area. The company said the engine production will be "substantially increased due to great demand for BlueTec diesel engines." Daimler shares rose 1.4% to $53.45. U.K. telecommunications firm BT Group PLC (BT, BT.A.LN) extended an olive branch to its biggest union by calling on the Communication Workers Union to resume talks after a union official said it may compromise on a pay deal. Shares fell 2.3% to $20.26. The Latin American index increased 0.2% to 359.51. Brazilian food processing company BRF-Brasil Foods SA (BRFS, BRFS3.BR) will pay a dividend worth 53.2 million Brazilian reals ($30 million) in the form of interest on its own capital, the company said late Thursday in a statement. Shares rose 1.5% to $14.51. Other Brazilian companies showing gains were pulp and paper company Fibria Celulose SA (FBR, FIBR3.BR), up 3.4% to $16.98, and airline GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOL, GOLL4.BR), up 3.4% to $13.23. The Asian index slipped 0.04% to 120.09. South Korean bank holding company KB Financial Group Inc.'s (KB, 105560.SE) flagship unit, South Korea's Kookmin Bank (QD-KOO), said reports that its chief executive, Kang Chung-won, plans to resign were untrue. KB Financial Group's shares gained 1% to $41.35. Production at one of Toyota Motor Corp.'s (TM, 7203.TO) main assembly plants in China was at least partially suspended as a result of a strike by workers at a supplier plant, a Toyota spokesman said, as the impact of widening labor unrest escalates for the world's largest auto maker in the biggest car market. Toyota's shares fell 1.2% to $71.45. The emerging markets index gained 0.1% to 296.79. Danone SA (DANOY, BN.FR) may have to sell its 18.4% stake in Russian dairy product company Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC (WBD, WBDF.RS) for anti-trust reasons, said UBS, because it sees "an above average probability that the stake might be placed in the open market, creating a temporary share overhang, but increasing WBD's stock in the longer term." Wimm-Bill-Dann's stock plummeted 9.1% to $19.61. -By Adam Cancryn, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3261; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 18, 2010 17:15 ET (21:15 GMT)