International stocks trading in New York closed lower on Thursday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts fell 1.07% to 149.03. The European index edged down 0.79% to 145.26, the Asian index dropped 1.71% to 158.63, the Latin American index eased 0.86% to 232.41 and the emerging markets index declined 1.51% to 278.05. Baidu Inc. (BIDU, K3SD.SG) and Nokia Corp. (NOK, NOK1V.HE) were among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

Baidu fell 8.6% to $200.28 a day after the Chinese search-engine giant issued soft sales guidance for the current quarter, as profit fell in the latest period amid flat numbers for its online marketing customers.

Nokia declined 12% to $6.58 after the Finnish company reported that its mainstay network business delivered unsatisfactory profits during the first quarter.

HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC, HSBA.LN, 0005.HK) has hired advisers to pitch a large chunk of its Brazilian unit to prospective buyers, The Wall Street Journal reported. The bank hired Goldman Sachs to gauge the interest of local lenders including banking giants Banco Bradesco SA (BBDO, BBD, BBDC4.BR) and Banco Santander SA (SAN, SAN.MC) for most of its Brazil unit, The Journal reported. HSBC runs the seventh-largest bank in Brazil with a 2.7% market share, in terms of assets. HSBC's ADRs fell 1.1% to $49.63, Banco Bradesco's ADRs rose 5.8% to $10.56 and Banco Santander's ADRs rose three cents to $7.52.

ADRs of Novo Nordisk AS (NVO, NOVO-B.KO) rose 1.2% to $56.27 after the world's biggest maker of insulin raised its 2015 financial guidance, reported a strong rise in quarterly profit and said Chief Executive Lars Rebien Sorensen will remain at the helm until his contract expires in 2019.

ADRs of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS, RBS.LN) fell 4.8% to $10.34 after the bank, which is 80% owned by the U.K. government, said it swung to a loss in the first three months of the year, hit by a wave of restructuring and litigation charges.

ADRs of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) fell seven cents to $63.43 after the oil company reported a 7% rise in first-quarter profit but a drop in production and a steep fall in revenue underscored the turmoil that low crude prices have spurred in the sector.

ADRs of Sanofi SA (SNY) fell 1.3% to $50.55 after the French drug maker warned that revenue in its all-important diabetes business would fall this year because of pricing pressure in the U.S. on its top-selling medicine Lantus.

Shire PLC (SHPG, SHP.LN) said it has appointed investor relations head Jeff Poulton as chief financial officer, bringing to an end a search that has lasted more than a year. Shire also reported that first-quarter earnings rose 21% on stronger revenue as its hyperactivity pill was introduced for a new use -- treating a binge-eating disorder -- and sales improved for its treatments for hereditary angioedema, a rare and potentially life-threatening condition. ADRs fell $1.75 to $243.51.

ADRs of Statoil ASA (STO, STL.OS) rose 3.7% to $21.23 after the chief executive of Norway's oil and gas producer said rising price uncertainty led the company to write down the value of its U.S. assets. The write-downs contributed to Statoil's third quarterly net loss in a row. However, Statoil's underlying earnings beat expectations after stripping out such one-time items.

ADRs of Vale SA (VALE, VALE3.BR, VALE5.BR, VALE5.FR) rose 5.8% to $7.68 after the world's largest iron-ore producer gave the strongest signals yet Thursday that it could temper output in the face of an oversupplied global market. During the first quarter, the Brazilian mining company set a record for iron-ore production but sold it at roughly half of last year's prices, contributing to a substantial deterioration of profit margins and revenue. The company also pushed back the timeline of a possible initial public offering of its base-metals division after an expected rebound in nickel prices failed to materialize.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com

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