ADRs End Mostly Lower; Gold Companies Trade Actively

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

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts declined 0.19% to 144.50, the Asian index fell 0.68% to 167.59, the Latin American index declined 0.28% to 247.38, and the emerging-markets index declined 0.57% to 314.43.

Meanwhile, the European index edged up 0.06% to 134.43.

Gold companies were among those with ADRs that traded actively.

Despite good trial results for Novartis AG's (NVS, NOVN.EB) anti-inflammatory treatment canakinumab, Bryan Garnier & Co. is "cautious about how the drug will penetrate its target market," since it will likely target a narrower population than originally anticipated. The brokerage sees the drug being oriented toward a subgroup of heart patients with a history of smoking and whose inflammation indicators fall below an established threshold after the first treatment. Novartis says its phase III trial showed canakinumab reduces certain cardiovascular events for these patients. BGC expects "no more than 300,000 patients" would benefit from the treatment "if its label fully reflects all the data package." ADRs closed down 0.2% at $83.33.

Infosys Ltd. (INFY, 500209.BY) extended gains as its ADRs rose 1.1% to $15.31 after its board appointed one of the founders Nandan Nilekani as its new chairman. This comes after Chief Executive Vishal Sikka's sudden resignation earlier in August, which pulled down the stock by 15% in the following two sessions. "The board is focused on bringing complete stability to the company," Mr. Nilekani says in a statement. The fact that it took only a week for this to play out, is a positive, as Infosys can now look forward to addressing business issues, says broker Motilal Oswal Securities. However, the broker says developments around selection of a new CEO, any disclosure of investigation report on Panaya acquisition will determine the extent of potential re-rating.

Gold prices continued climbing Monday, buoyed by a weaker U.S. dollar after a recent meeting of global central bankers offered few clues about the future of monetary policy. Monday served as the gold contract's largest one-day advance since May 17 and its highest close since September 2016. Among those with ADRs, Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI, GFI.JO) rose 5% to $4.36; AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU, ANG.JO) rose 6% to $9.48; and Randgold Resources Ltd. (GOLD, RRS.LN) rose 2.3% to $99.99.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 28, 2017 18:17 ET (22:17 GMT)

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