US-listed shares of foreign companies fell on Friday, led lower by the stocks of commodity-related companies as basic metals and oil prices extended losses. Copper hit a six-month low while oil could post its sixth straight weekly decline, both on concerns about demand spurred by China's interest-rate cut Thursday and Spain's deepening bank crisis.
US-traded shares of miner BHP Billiton plc fell 2.4 percent to $62.86 and the ADRs of Brazil's energy giant Petrobras dropped 4.1 percent to $19.27. The strength of the US dollar further weighed on foreign shares because they become relatively more expensive as the greenback rises. The US dollar index gained 0.5 percent on the day. The BNY Mellon index of leading American depository receipts slipped 0.4 percent. In contrast, the S&P 500 index rose 0.5 percent.
For the week, the broad ADR index was up 3.5 percent, on track to post its largest weekly percentage gain since late January. The BNY Mellon index of leading European ADRs was mostly flat. The ADRs of Banco Santander rose 2.9 percent to $6.11, setting up a weekly gain of more than 14 percent. The stock had fallen in nine of the last 11 weeks and last week hit a low of $5.20, its lowest since March 2009. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed down 0.24 percent as investors positioned for a possible batch of weak Chinese economic data over the weekend. The BNY Mellon index of leading Asian ADRs dropped 1.1 percent and the BNY Mellon index of leading Latin American ADRs fell 1.4 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed.