ADR Report: Shares Tumble Following Weak Asia, U.S. Data

Jun 01, 2012

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--International companies trading in New York closed sharply lower Friday, in line with the broader market, following weak data out of Asia and the U.S. and on ongoing concerns about the health of the euro zone.

The Bank of New York index of ADRs fell 1.8% to 109.60 as the two measures of Chinese manufacturing activity released Friday both confirmed that Asia's largest economy is slowing more quickly than expected.

Shares of the country's top aluminum producer Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (ACH, K3HD.SG, 601600.SH, 2600.HK) dropped 6.1% to $10.01, coal miner Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. (YZC, K3GD.SG, 600188.SH, 1171.HK) fell 3.6% to $16.06 and residential real estate developer Xinyuan Real Estate Co. (XIN, XNYH, XYIGY, 0868.HK) lost 6.6% to $2.68.

The Asian index tumbled 2.4% to 108.87.

Revenue growth in Macau, which is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal, rose only 7% in May, a sharp slowdown from April's 22% increase, and the lowest since 2009. Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd.'s (MPEL, 6883.HK) stock fell 6.8% to $10.95.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s (TM, 7203.TO) U.S. auto sales jumped 87% in May, though they were still shy of blockbuster expectations from car-shopping website Edmunds.com. Shares fell 2.7% to $74.81.

Nissan Motor Co.'s (NSANY, 7201.TO) stock also declined, off 4.1% to $18.33. Its U.S. vehicle sales in May missed expectations, too.

The European index fell 1.5% to 100.94.

Steel titan ArcelorMittal (MT, MT.FR, MT.AE) confirmed Friday it plans to extend for another six months the partial idling of its Florange steel plant until the end of 2012 because of protracted weakness in European steel demand. Shares of ArcelorMittal lost 2.9% to $13.49.

The Latin American index declined 2.5% to 297.80.

Dutch telecommunications company Royal KPN NV (KKPNY, KPN.AE) Friday rebuffed Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil SAB de CV (AMX, AMOV) offer to raise its stake in the company and said it will consider ways to unlock the value of its German unit E-Plus, the jewel in the KPN crown. Shares of America Movil dropped 3.6% to $22.72.

The emerging markets index fell 2.2% to 253.84.

Major auto makers in India posted a decline or a marginal growth in passenger vehicle sales in May as continued weak demand for gasoline models outweighed rising sales of diesel vehicles. Shares of Tata Motors Ltd. (TTM, 500570.BY) declined 3.3% to $20.11.

Gold mining companies, however, were a bright spot, trading up as the price of gold rose amid the latest quantitative easing speculation.

Shares of Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI, GFI.JO) climbed 4.5% to $13.85, Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY, HAR.JO) added 4.8% to $10.33 and DRDGOLD Ltd. (DRD, DRD.JO) gained 3.5% to $6.53.

-By Corrie Driebusch, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2143; corrie.driebusch@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 01, 2012 16:27 ET (20:27 GMT)