ADRs End Mostly Higher; Chinese Companies Rise

International stocks trading in New York closed higher on Tuesday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 0.59% to 126.83. The European index edged up 0.34% to 128.82; the Asian index improved 1.37% to 129.40; the Latin American index eased 0.02% to 162.08; and the emerging markets index increased 0.78% to 206.08. Chinese firms were among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

China stepped up its credit-easing efforts by slashing interest rates and flooding its banking system with new liquidity, its second such combo move in two months aimed at battling a deepening economic slowdown and its worst stock-market selloff in decades. Among Chinese companies with ADRs that rose Tuesday, cosmetics retailer Jumei International Holding Ltd. (JMEI) increased 8.4% to $10.74, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. (SHI, 0338.HK, 600688.SH, K3DD.SG) rose 5.9% to $32.46, VisionChina Media Inc. (VISN) rose 7.4% to $8.72 and social-media platform Weibo Corp. (WB) advanced 10% to $10.66.

A day after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) dipped below its initial public offering price for the first time, the Chinese e-commerce giant's chief executive in an open letter told employees to forget the company's share price. On Monday, Alibaba fell below its IPO price of $68 for the first time since the company's record-breaking $25 billion stock-market debut in the U.S. last September. On Tuesday, Alibaba's ADRs rose 4.2% to $68.57.

BHP Billiton reported its weakest annual earnings since 2003 and cut its long-term forecast for Chinese steel demand. However the chief executive of the Anglo-Australian company expressed confidence that its most important customer, China, is on track, despite the country's current bout of market and economic turbulence. As the world's leading commodities producer, with interests in iron ore, coal, oil and gas and copper, BHP Billiton is arguably one of the major global businesses most exposed to China's fortunes. ADRs of BHP Billiton PLC (BBL, BLT.LN) rose 2.3% to $31.20 and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP, BHP.AU) rose 2.3% to $32.92.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 25, 2015 16:43 ET (20:43 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.