Overseas shares traded in the United States fell on Friday as concerns about the global economic growth and Europe's debt crisis prompted investors to sell stocks. European companies traded in the US led losses after hawkish comments from European Central Bank Governor Jean-Claude Trichet on the peripheral eurozone sovereign debt crisis.
Moving away from commodities and higher-yielding currencies, investors flocked to safe-haven assets such as the dollar and US government bonds. The BNY Mellon index of leading European ADRs was off 1.6 percent. Allied Irish Bank fell 4.6 percent to $2.87 on the NYSE. Deutsche Bank lost 3.3 percent to $59.17. But the National Bank of Greece shares rose 0.7 percent to $1.40 as Trichet's comments urged Greece to stick to its reform plan and reiterated the view that the country should not restructure its debt.