ADRs End Higher; ASML Trades Actively

International stocks trading in New York closed higher on Wednesday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 0.8% to 162.03. The European index increased 0.5% to 148.75. The Asian index rose 1.1% to 194.00. The Latin American index rose 1.5% to 270.01. And the emerging-markets index improved 1.2% to 349.47. ASML Holding NV (ASML, ASML.AE) was among those with ADRs that traded actively.

ASML said Wednesday that it will launch a 2.50 billion-euro ($3.06 billion) share buyback in 2018-2019 and reported record sales and net income for 2017 after a strong final quarter. Its ADRs rose 7% to $199.18.

Pearson PLC (PSO, PSON.LN) failed to impress investors with its profit guidance. While Pearson's net-debt position is manageable at around GBP500 million and it has a pension surplus, the education publisher's emphasis on adjusted operating profit raises questions over the quality of earnings, even if the quantity looks good, said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. He said some allowance can be made for disposals and changes to the corporate structure but if Pearson wants to prove it is back on track it will have to show an increase in profit and close the gap between stated and underlying profit. ADRs fell 3.7% to $9.46.

ADRs of Ericsson AB (ERIC) rose 6% to $7.34 on Wednesday, a day after the Swedish telecommunications-equipment maker said it expects to write down another 14.2 billion Swedish kronor ($1.77 billion) in assets, as it struggles to retool itself in the face of slowing sales and nimbler Chinese rivals.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 17, 2018 18:22 ET (23:22 GMT)

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