International stocks trading in New York were mixed on
Wednesday.
The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts edged up
0.38% to 146.56. The European index eased 0.22% to 143.32; the
Asian index improved 1.64% to 156.25; the Latin American index rose
0.96% to 221.98; and the emerging markets index increased 2.28% to
270.90. Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) was among the
companies with ADRs that actively traded.
Royal Dutch Shell fell 3.4% to $59.83 after the oil giant agreed
to buy BG Group PLC (BRGYY, BG.LN) for about $70 billion. The deal
would create the world's largest independent producer of liquefied
natural gas amid a historic downturn in energy prices. The planned
acquisition also confirms an earlier report by The Wall Street
Journal. Among other oil companies whose ADRs advanced, BP PLC (BP,
BP.LN) rose 1.3% to $40.77.
ADRs of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) rose 3.9% to $85.39
after the Chinese e-commerce giant proposed an injection of assets
into its unprofitable movie arm. Alibaba Group has proposed folding
its online movie ticketing business and its movie production
crowdfunding platform into its Alibaba Pictures unit.
Aviva PLC (AV, AV.LN) said an agreement to sell products through
Singapore's DBS Bank Ltd. will conclude at year's end because the
cost to renew was too high. The U.K.-based insurer said the end of
the pact won't have a material effect on its business and that it
will retain the existing book of business, associated profit, and
customer rights and relationships bought in the original
transaction with DBS in 2001. Aviva ADRs rose 1.6% to $16.54.
The U.S. unit of Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA
(BBVA, BBVA.MC) introduced a new service Wednesday that allows its
customers to send and receive money instantly. BBVA Compass is
providing the service through Dwolla, one of a growing number of
financial-technology start-ups that circumvent the national
payments infrastructure that has been in place for decades. Banco
Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria ADRs fell eight cents to $10.41.
ADRs of Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. (SHI, 0338.HK,
600688.SH, K3DD.SG) rose 13% to $47.25 after the oil producer said
it expects to swing to a first-quarter profit thanks to weaker oil
prices that resulted in lower crude-processing costs.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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