US-listed shares of European banks were mixed on Friday after eight of 90 European banks failed stress tests designed to see whether they would be strong enough to withstand a prolonged recession.
The "stress test" of 90 banks in 21 countries gave failing grades to five banks in Spain, two in Greece and one in Austria. The European Banking Authority, the regulator running the test, is expected to release full details on the banks at a later time.
The largest European banks have seen their share prices decline on worries about their exposure to bad debts. Those stocks were mixed on Friday. Barclays shares trading in the United States rose 0.8 percent. HSBC added 0.2 percent, while Lloyds shares dropped 1.7 percent. All three passed the tests.
"The bank stress tests are not testing for sovereign default risk; they're not going to test for the risks that are very important," said Paul Ehrlichman, head of global equity at Global Currents in Wilmington, Del. "It's news that will move that market, but at the end of the day, it's a stress test... They really need to look at the downside scenario of at least a Greek default."
The BNY Mellon index of leading American Depository Receipts (ADRs) rose 0.2 percent, while the BNY Mellon index of leading European ADRs added 0.2 percent.
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares ended down 0.2 percent.
Asian and European shares trading in the United States also turned higher. Receipts with the BNY Mellon index of leading Latin American ADRs rose 0.2 percent.
The BNY Mellon index of leading Asian ADRs rose 0.1 percent. Chinese airline shares trading in the United States were among top gainers. China East Air shares rose 3.1 percent, while China South Air shares gained 6.1 percent.