ADRs End Lower; Banks, Oil Firms Slide

International stocks trading in New York closed lower on Friday.

Unilever PLC (UL, ULVR.LN) was among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts fell 1.3% to 125.96. The European index decreased 1.5% to 120.04, the Asian index dropped 0.9% to 142.06, the Latin American index fell 1.3% to 193.37 and the emerging markets index declined 0.8% to 252.02.

ADRs of Unilever PLC (UL, ULVR.LN) fell 1.7% to $46.02 following reports in The Wall Street Journal last night that the consumer goods giant is in talks to buy Honest Co., the retailer co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, in a deal valued at more than $1 billion. The deal would give Unilever, with brands like Axe and Dove, access to the growing "green" cleaning market, as well as the diaper business. The deal would also add another e-commerce brand to its portfolio.

ADRs of Ecopetrol S.A. (EC, ECOPETROL.BO) fell 3.1% to $8.32, ADRs of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) fell 1.7% to $47.21, and ADRs of BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) fell 0.9% to $33.31. Oil prices fell Friday as attention turned to increasing exports from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and a shutdown on a major U.S. gasoline pipeline keep weighing on prices. Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) have both lifted force majeures on Nigerian exports after militants had caused the shut-in of supply. Stockpiles of both crude and gasoline are still high, and are likely to make any disruptions from the pipeline only a momentary problem, analysts have said.

ADRs of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS, RBS.LN) fell 5.8% to $4.86, after after news that the U.S. Department of Justice has asked German lender Deutsche Bank AG (DB) to pay $14 billion to settle various U.S. probes into mortgage securities it sold during the financial crisis. A Bankhaus Lampe analyst said it isn't surprising that Royal Bank of Scotland shares were among those being sold off, given the bank's own legal issues and its strong investment division prior to its restructuring. ADRs of Credit Suisse Group AG (CS, CSGN.EB) fell 4.7% to $13.09 and ADRs of Barclays PLC (BCS, BARC.LN) fell 4.6% to $8.58.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 16, 2016 17:18 ET (21:18 GMT)

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