International stocks trading in New York closed lower Monday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts dropped 1.1% to 152.04. The European index fell 0.7% to 138.16. The Asian index declined 1.6% to 183.66. The Latin American index decreased 1.4% to 266.03. And the emerging-markets index fell 1.4% to 342.41.

Baidu Inc. (BIDU), Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) and BP PLC (BP) were among those with ADRs that traded actively.

Chinese internet giant Baidu is being opportunistic in announcing calls with bond investors Monday for a potential dollar-denominated deal. Last week, Moody's raised its ratings outlook to stable on the internet-search provider, and Baidu is also aiming to lock in lower costs ahead of Wednesday's anticipated Fed rate increase. Given a sale may be capped at $1.5 billion amid regulatory caps and sold the U.S. investors, pent-up demand may help Baidu sell the bonds at lower rates. A deal could be split into 5 1/2- and 10-year tranches, with proceeds helping refinance $1 billion of debt due in August. ADRs of Baidu dropped 3.6% to $252.83.

Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma is doubling down on Southeast Asia, investing another $2 billion in e-commerce subsidiary Lazada Group and naming trusted confidante Lucy Peng as chief executive. The investment announced Monday comes on top of the $2 billion the e-commerce company has poured into Lazada since buying a majority stake in 2016. Singapore-based Lazada operates online marketplaces in six Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, selling everything from lipstick and car wax to instant coffee and smartphones. ADRs of Alibaba dropped 2.9% to $194.53.

BP says it is looking to sell three of its four wind farms in Texas. The sale will leave the company with 11 wind farms totaling more than a gigawatt of wind power in eight U.S. states, including in rural Indiana, where the company operates hundreds of turbines across a trio of wind farms. BP said it plans to reinvest proceeds from the sale of the three Texas farms in its wind portfolio, and will ultimately look to improve operations at "higher-performing" wind assets. The company, which also recently re-entered the solar market, has plans to spend $500 million a year on low-carbon businesses. ADRs of BP dropped 1.9% to $38.75.

 

Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 19, 2018 18:18 ET (22:18 GMT)

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