ADRs End Lower; Novo Nordisk Falls

International stocks trading in New York closed lower on Thursday.

Novo Nordisk AS (NVO, NOVO-B.KO) was among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts fell 1.4% to 128.02. The European index decreased 1.4% to 121.43, the Asian index dropped 1.2% to 145.04, the Latin American index fell 2.1% to 201.05 and the emerging markets index declined 1.4% to 258.17.

Novo Nordisk said it will slash roughly 1,000 jobs in an effort to cut costs as the drugmaker faces increasing competition in its diabetes business, which comprises more than half of the company's sales. The Denmark-based company, which has a workforce of 42,300, said the downsizing includes eliminating jobs across its research and development, sales and administrative operations, with roughly half the layoffs in its home country. ADRs fell 4.4% to $41.80.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK, GSK.LN) said Brian McNamara, head of Europe and Americas at the U.K. drug maker's consumer health-care business, will now lead that division, succeeding Emma Walmsley who has been appointed Glaxo chief executive. ADRs fell 1.8% to $42.90.

Telefonica SA (TEF, TEF.MC) said it is suspending the initial public offering of its Telxius infrastructure unit because offers from potential investors "undervalued the business." The scuttled IPO plan throws a wrench in the Spanish telecommunication giant's efforts to quickly raise funds to whittle down more than 50 billion euros ($56.1 billion) in debt. Telefonica said it will continue to explore other alternatives for the Telxius unit, according to a regulatory filing. ADRs fell 2.5% to $10.26.

Brazilian mining giant Vale SA (VALE, VALE3.BR, VALE5.BR, VALE5.FR) said it has agreed on new terms for a long-delayed deal to sell some of its Mozambique coal assets to Japan's Mitsui & Co. to shore up its cash position. ADRs fell 2.1% to $5.53.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 29, 2016 18:05 ET (22:05 GMT)

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