ADRs End Mostly Higher; Pearson Rises

International stocks trading in New York closed mostly higher on Thursday.

Pearson PLC (PSO, PSON.LN) was among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 0.8%, to 114.49. The European index increased 0.9%, to 114.98; the Asian index improved 0.6%, to 123.22; the Latin American index fell 0.8%, to 124.58; and the emerging markets index increased 1%, to 192.50.

Pearson unveiled plans to cut 4,000 jobs, or 10% of its workforce, as the company also lowered its earnings outlook. The London company, which makes most of its revenue from educational services in the U.S., said it had underestimated the impact of trading pressures across its key markets. ADRs rose 16%, to $10.95.

Russia's second-biggest lender VTB Bank (VTBR.MZ) signed a strategic partnership agreement with Internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) and its affiliate Ant Financial Services Group, VTB said in a statement on Thursday. Alibaba's ADRs rose 2.9%, to $70.72.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY, RY.T) said it had agreed to sell its home and auto-insurance operations to the Canadian arm of U.K. insurance provider Aviva PLC (AV, AV.LN) for 582 million Canadian dollars (about $402 million). Aviva's ADRs rose 1.7%, to $13.23.

Barclays PLC (BCS, BARC.LN) said it would refocus its investment bank in the U.K. and the U.S., cutting around 1,000 jobs, mainly across Asia. The U.K.-based lender is closing its cash-equity-research, -sales and -trading and its convertible-bond-trading businesses in Asia. The bank will also exit several countries including Brazil, Russia, Taiwan and South Korea, according to a letter and memo sent to staff by Barclays's investment banking chief executive Tom King. ADRs rose 1.3%, to $10.62.

Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is in talks with two of China's leading energy companies concerning several energy projects to help increase the Saudi state-owned oil company's sales in Asia. The talks are at an advanced stage involving projects with China National Petroleum Corp. and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP, 0386.HK), better known as Sinopec, said Khalid al-Falih, the chairman of the state-owned oil giant better known as Saudi Aramco. The projects include refineries in the city of Qingdao and in the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan. Sinopec's ADRs rose 4.8%, to $52.22.

Logitech International SA (LOGI, LOGN.EB) raised its earnings guidance for its fiscal year ending in March as the computer peripherals-maker posted better-than-expected earnings for the holiday quarter. ADRs rose 7.4%, to $14.73.

Total SA (TOT, FP.FR) is likely to report adjusted earnings of close to $10 billion for 2015, down from $12.8 billion the previous year as a result of the oil price collapse, Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said. The French oil major's ADRs rose 2%, to $41.01.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 21, 2016 17:41 ET (22:41 GMT)

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