International stocks trading in New York closed higher on
Monday.
The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 1.8%
to 148.42. The European index increased 2% to 147.26, the Asian
index improved 1.5% to 154.95, the Latin American index rose 1.1%
to 219.68 and the emerging markets index increased 1.2% to
264.60.
National Bank of Greece was among the companies with ADRs that
traded actively.
News out of Greece lifted stocks around the globe. The Wall
Street Journal reported that the Greek government's latest plan
makes a potentially major concession on cutting deficits in its
pension system. The plan was formally submitted to creditors Monday
and could be a big step toward ending a monthslong deadlock that
has spurred talk of a potential Greek exit from the eurozone.
Still, eurozone leaders cautioned that an immediate breakthrough
was unlikely. ADRs of National Bank of Greece SA (NBG, ETE.AT) rose
18% to $1.30.
ADRs of Eni SpA (E, ENI.MI) rose 5.1% to $38.14 after Deutsche
Bank stated in a note to clients that the Italy-based energy giant
shouldn't rush the sale of its 43% stake in troubled oil services
company Saipem. The bank said that while the sale would raise
much-need cash for Eni and would allow the oil-and-gas company to
deconsolidate 4.5 billion euros ($ billion) of Saipem's debt, the
past few years have been rough for the unit whose shares having
lost half their value in the past 12 months. "The equity market is
materially undervaluing Saipem," the bank said.
Fly Leasing Ltd. (FLY) said it can do $2 billion in
commercial-jet deals the next two years after agreeing to sell 1/4
of its older fleet to an unnamed buyer for $985 million. The
company is considering sale/leaseback transactions, taking over an
airline's orders and renting the planes back to it, an increasingly
crowded and competitive space but one expected to account for 20%
of plane deliveries this year. New entrants also are expected, with
at least one large U.S. bank looking to enter an aircraft-finance
market largely vacated by American lending banks a year ago. ADRs
rose 1.7% to $15.85.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK, GSK.LN) said it is selling meningitis
vaccines Nimenrix and Mencevax to Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) Irish
subsidiary for 115 million euros ($130.6 million), aiming to gain
regulatory approval for a deal with Novartis AG (NVS, NOVN.VX) that
includes Glaxo buying Novartis's vaccines business. GlaxoSmithKline
ADRs rose 39 cents to $43.45 and Novartis ADRs increased 1.9% to
$102.12.
ADRs of Orange SA (ORAN, ORA.FR) rose 7.3% to $16.70 after
European telecom company Altice SA said it has made an offer to buy
France's Bouygues Telecom, confirming weekend reports of a
multibillion-dollar takeover approach which could create France's
largest operator by subscribers. A merger between the two companies
would create France's largest mobile telephone operator, ahead of
Orange SA, the country's former monopoly.
ADRs of STMicroelectronics NV (STM, STM.FR, STM.MI) rose 3.9% to
$8.30 after Barclays upgraded the chip maker to equal weight and
raised the price target. "We believe estimates have reached a
bottom and a new cost-cutting plan could lift expectations from
depressed levels. Most of [STMicro's] businesses are now healthy,"
Barclays said. What's still struggling is digital products "after a
number of unconvincing turnaround plans."
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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