ADR Report: Shares Rise As Broader Market Sees Late Surge

8th Jul 2010 22:00

By Caitlin Nish Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--International companies trading in New York ended higher Thursday as the broader market saw a late-day surge and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its third consecutive gain. The Bank of New York index of ADRs rose 1.1% to 120.35, boosted by shares of Chinese solar companies. JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (JASO) agreed to supply about 70 megawatts of its solar products to German solar-energy company Solar-Fabrik AG (SLFBF, SFX.XE) through the end of this year. The supply agreement extends a relationship that began in 2008 as JA Solar strives to expand its geographic reach and increase its global market share. The company's stock rose 6% to $5.81. LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (LDK) shares also climbed, up 9.9% to $5.91. LDK said it will deliver 13 megawatts of solar modules to the Power Systems division of Italy's ABB SpA in the third quarter of 2010. A wider cooperation agreement is under negotiation to supply ABB with larger volumes of solar modules in the remainder of 2010 and 2011, it said. Other solar companies that gained include shares of ReneSola Ltd. (SOL, SOLA.LN), up 8.8% to $7.55, and Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (STP), up 6.8% to $10.94. Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (SOLF) also rose, by 6.8% to $8.68. The European index gained 1.2% to 109.64. Cable & Wireless Communications PLC (CWC.LN) Chairman Richard Lapthorne has been approached by some key investors in Prudential PLC (PUK, PRU.LN) to replace the U.K. insurer's current Chairman Harvey McGrath, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday. Lapthorne, 67, is considering the position but hasn't decided on it yet, the person said. Prudential's shares rose 2.8% to $15.93. Ireland's finance ministry Thursday officially approved the Commission of Investigation into the banking sector led by Peter Nyberg, former Director General for Financial Services at the Finnish Ministry of Finance. Bank of Ireland (IRE, BIR.DB) stock ended 5% higher at $3.78 while Allied Irish Banks Plc (AIB, ALBK.DB) rose 1.2% to $2.47. The Asian index climbed 0.9% to 118.65 as shares of semiconductor companies ended mixed. Silicon Motion Technology Corp. (SIMO) boosted its second-quarter revenue target as the Taiwan semiconductor company said its mobile storage products saw better-than-expected strength. "The first half of 2010 came in better than expected and we continue to believe that this is a year of gradual recovery for Silicon Motion," said President and Chief Executive Wallace Kou. Shares surged 11.8% to $5.23. But among the companies seeing losses was Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMI, 0981.HK). It confirmed Thursday it plans to sell up to HK$1.56 billion (US$200.3 million) new shares to its largest shareholder, Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Holdings Co., and other independent investors on the open market to fund a capacity expansion. Shares declined 9.4% to $3.55 on dilution worries. The Latin American index closed 0.8% higher at 355.11. Goldman Sachs upgraded its recommendation for Brazil's largest private bank, Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB, ITUB4.BR) to buy from neutral, but cut its recommendation of Latin America's largest bank, the state-run Banco do Brasil SA (BDORY, BBAS3.BR) to neutral from buy, it said Thursday in a research report. "We believe that the sell-off following the announcement of the May sale of Bank of America's ownership stake in Itau Unibanco is overdone. In our view, the market has now digested the additional shares, and marginal buyers could return," Goldman said. Itau Unibanco's shares rose 3.1% to $21.16 while Banco do Brasil's fell 1.4% to $15.91. Separately, Brazilian bank Banco Bradesco SA (BBD, BBDC4.BR) ended up 3.1% to $18.70. The emerging-markets index edged up 0.7% to 292.78. South African gold miner Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd (HMY, HAR.JO) said Thursday it has commenced extensive changes and repairs to the shaft bottom at its Joel North Shaft in the Free State, adding that it anticipates the gold production for the September quarter at Joel to possibly be halved. Shares fell 1.3% to $10.50. Other South African miners also ended lower, with shares of Drdgold Ltd. (DROOY, DRD.JO) down 2.7% to $4.28 and Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI, GFI.JO) off 1.6% to $12.94. -By Caitlin Nish, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2076; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 08, 2010 17:00 ET (21:00 GMT)