ADRs End Higher; Steelmakers, Mining Companies Rise

International stocks trading in New York closed higher on Wednesday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 1.9% to 126.03. The European index increased 1.6% to 123.15, the Asian index improved 2.7% to 135.40, the Latin American index rose 2% to 186.36 and the emerging markets index increased 2.2% to 240.36.

Steelmakers and mining firms were among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

China's better-than-expected trade data for March drove prices of copper and other industrial metals higher Wednesday, though concerns continued to linger about excess supplies. Gainers included mining companies and steelmakers with ADRs. ArcelorMittal (MT, MT.FR) rose 6.6% to $5.53, Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (SID) advanced 19% to $3.72, Gerdau SA (GGB, GGBR3.BR, GGBR4.BR) increased 8.3% to $2.35, (VALE, VALE3.BR, VALE5.BR, VALE5.FR) rose 6% to $5.64, BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP, BHP.AU) increased 6.7% to $28.51, BHP Billiton PLC (BBL, BLT.LN) rose 7.3% to $25.12 and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, RIO.LN) increased 6.5% to $31.88.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA), together with its financial affiliate, is placing a $1.25 billion bet on Chinese food-delivery app Ele.me, further fueling the battle to deliver offline services to Chinese consumers through mobile phones. The move to back Ele.me comes after Alibaba reached a deal earlier this year to sell its stake in Meituan-Dianping, China's largest online provider of movie ticketing, restaurant bookings and other on-demand services. Ele.me competes with Meituan-Dianping and Chinese search company Baidu Inc.'s (BIDU, K3SD.SG) Nuomi platform. ADRs of Alibaba rose 2.3% to $79.64. Baidu increased 3.5% to $193.98.

Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY, HAR.JO) announced significant copper-gold drill results at its Kili Teke prospect in the Hela province in Papua New Guinea, and said it expects to report a revised mineral resource estimate in the September quarter. However, ADRs fell 5.2% to $3.84 as gold prices declined.

China's government has invested at least $3 billion in research institutes and domestic companies working on genetically engineered crops, but state-owned China National Chemical's planned $43 billion purchase of Syngenta AG (SYT, SYNN.VX), the Swiss-based seed and pesticide company, may get China there faster, according to the annual ISAAA survey on biotech crop adoption. Syngenta's ADRs edged down 18 cents to $83.91.

ADRs of Vedanta Ltd. (VEDL, 500295.BY) rose 6.4% to $5.98 after the company said the Indian government hasn't blocked its planned merger with Cairn India (532792.BY).

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 13, 2016 18:11 ET (22:11 GMT)

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