Overseas shares traded in New York were little changed on Friday with investors cautious going into a long holiday weekend and ahead of a critical meeting in Europe on Monday for the approval of Greece's bailout plan. The US market will be closed for the Presidents Day holiday on Monday.
The BNY Mellon index of leading American Depository Receipts rose 0.3 percent, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index added 0.2 percent and hovered near a nine-month high. US-listed shares of Aegon rose 5.4 percent to $5.25. The Dutch insurer said it is on track to restructure and cut costs even after missing fourth-quarter profit estimates after taking several one-off charges.
The BNY Mellon index of leading European ADRs rose 0.5 percent, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed up 0.6 percent down at 1083.22 points. The FTSEurofirst 300 hit its highest level since before the market's early August nosedive on renewed optimism of a bailout deal for Greece that would further ease tensions over the euro zone debt crisis.
Japanese shares gave back some recent gains in New York after the Nikkei average rallied 1.6 percent on Friday to hit a six-month high, powered by automakers and Nomura Holdings, Japan's top brokerage. In New York, Nomura edged up 0.7 percent to $4.36. Toyota Motors fell 0.4 percent to $83.34, while Honda Motor Co rose 0.8 percent to $37.40. The BNY Mellon index of leading Asian ADRs fell 0.1 percent and the BNY Mellon index of leading Latin American ADRs rose 0.5 percent.
Shares of Baidu Inc, China's top search engine, were down after the company said it expects first-quarter revenue of $666.5 million to $688 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S were looking for revenue of $678.8 million. "The guidance is in-line, but people think that considering the (economic) environment and the early Chinese new year, maybe the company is giving conservative guidance," said Qi Guo, an analyst at ThinkEquity. The shares fell 3.4 percent to $136.94.
Comments
Comments are closed.