ADRs End Mostly Lower; CRH Trades Actively

International stocks trading in New York closed mostly lower on Friday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts eased 0.1% to 149.08. The European index declined 0.2% to 138.96. The Latin American index fell 1% to 256.41. And the emerging-markets index declined 0.3% to 322.64.

Meanwhile, the Asian index improved 0.2% to 172.39.

CRH PLC (CRH, CRG.DB) was among those with ADRs that traded actively.

Irish building materials firm CRH is unlikely to engage in a bidding war after its U.S. target, Ash Grove Cement, received a larger counterbid from a third party, UniCredit analyst Christian Aust says in a note. CRH has been "disciplined" in its M&A transactions so far and may be able to find other acquisition targets in the U.S, he adds. UniCredit is keeping its market-weight recommendation on CRH bonds. Ash Grove, which disclosed the competing bid on Thursday, said it continues to recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the CRH takeover when they meet on Nov. 1. It also said that the deadline for obtaining shareholder approval has been extended to Oct. 20. ADRs fell 1.8% to $36.25.

Ryanair Holdings PLC's (RYAAY, RYA.LN, RY4C.DB) big edge over rivals has been its lower cost structure. However, costs may be on the rise for the company as Chief Executive Michael O'Leary has signaled to staff that pilot pay may rise. ADRs fell 0.7% to $105.73.

The planned sale of Unilever PLC's (UL, ULVR.LN) spreads unit should help it get more firmly positioned in current rating categories, but it may be too early for bond holders to cheer. The consumer goods firm's bonds trade at tight spread levels, UniCredit analyst Silke Stegemann says, keeping the marketweight recommendation on Unilever debt. The group carries ratings of A1, A+ and A+ at Moody's, S&P and Fitch, respectively. ADRs fell 1.3% to $56.99.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 06, 2017 17:56 ET (21:56 GMT)

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