ADRs End Lower; China Firms, Oil Majors Decline

International stocks trading in New York closed lower on Thursday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts fell 2.4% to 119.91. The European index decreased 2.1% to 120.23, the Asian index dropped 2.9% to 128.98, the Latin American index fell 3.9% to 134.26 and the emerging markets index declined 3.5% to 199.35.

Chinese firms and oil majors were among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

Thursday's stock selloff came after the People's Bank of China made its largest downward adjustment to the yuan since August. China's stock markets stopped trading after only 30 minutes, ending the shortest trading day in their history after the newly installed mechanism to limit volatility was triggered for the second time this week. Among Chinese companies with ADRs, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) fell 6% to $72.72, Baidu Inc. (BIDU, K3SD.SG) declined 6.1% to $174.37, Netease Inc. (NTES, K3MD.SG) dropped 4.8% to $165.37, Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (ACH, 601600.SH, 2600.HK, K3HD.SG) decreased 6% to $7.34 and Jumei International Holding Ltd. (JMEI) dropped 11% to $7.74.

Oil prices slid to levels not seen in more than a decade Thursday, hammered by continuing market turmoil in China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer. Among oil majors with ADRs, BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) fell 2.9% to $29.43, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP, 0386.HK) decreased 4.3% to $53.71, PetroChina Co. (PTR, 0857.HK, 601857.SH, K3OD.SG) dropped 4.4% to $58.90, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) declined 4.3% to $42.12 and Total SA (TOT, FP.FR) fell 2.4% to $41.63.

Airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB (PAC, GAP.MX) reported that terminal passenger traffic rose 19% last month at its 12 airports in Mexico and 3.9% at Montego Bay from a year earlier. Domestic traffic rose 20% in its network and international traffic climbed 17%. The percentage of seats filled -- or load factor rose 2.4 percentage points to 79%. Helping out were a host of new routes to locales like Guadalajara, Tijuana, and Los Cabos. ADRs fell 5.5% to $79.11.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 07, 2016 17:47 ET (22:47 GMT)

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