ADRs End Higher; Barclays, Baidu and Gold Fields Trade Actively

International stocks trading in New York closed higher on Thursday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 1.1% to 151.27. The European index increased 0.8% to 137.87. The Asian index rose 1.4% to 180.74. The Latin American index increase 2.3% to 270.18. And the emerging-markets index rose 1.9% to 336.49.

Barclays PLC (BCS), Baidu Inc. (BIDU) and Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI) were among those with ADRs that traded actively.

Barclays agreed to pay $2 billion in civil penalties to resolve U.S. Justice Department claims that the U.K. lender fraudulently sold mortgage securities that helped fuel the financial crisis, causing investors "enormous losses," the government said Thursday. Two former Barclays executives also agreed to $2 million in civil penalties to resolve individual claims, the Justice Department said. The agreements came 15 months after the Justice Department took the unusual step of suing Barclays over the allegations. Barclays sought to have the suit dismissed, calling the claims "disconnected from the facts." ADRs of Barclays rose 0.5% to $11.82.

The Netflix-like video-streaming unit of Chinese search-engine giant Baidu closed 13% below its offering price in its market debut Thursday. The decline came despite American depositary shares of iQiyi Inc. opening trading Thursday at $18.20, slightly higher than the $18 offering price. The IPO, which sold 125 million shares and raised $2.25 billion, priced at the midpoint of its $17 to $19 marketed range. IQiyi shares, trading on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker IQ, closed at $15.55. ADRs of Baidu rose less than 1% to $223.19.

Gold Fields said Thursday that it is forming a joint venture with Asanko Gold Inc. (AKG.T) and buying a stake in the company's assets in Ghana for $185 million. The South African miner said that one of its subsidiaries will form a joint venture with an Asanko Gold subsidiary. Gold Fields will buy a 50% stake in Asanko Gold Ghana's 90% interest in a collection of properties and exploration rights in Ghana that are collectively called the Asanko Gold Mine. There will be an up-front payment of $165 million and a deferred payment of $20 million, it said. ADRs of Gold Fields fell 1% to $4.02.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 29, 2018 19:31 ET (23:31 GMT)

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