ADR Shares End Mixed; Metals, Mining Stocks Fall on China Inflation Report

   By Mia Lamar 
 

International companies trading in New York closed mixed Friday, hurt by lower metals and mining shares after downbeat news from top industrial metal consumer China.

The Bank of New York index of ADRs ended fractionally lower at 137.66.

China's consumer-price index rose 2.5% from a year earlier in December, faster than November's 2% rise. Rising prices could limit Beijing's flexibility to support the Chinese economy, analysts said, should leaders worry that pumping more cash into the financial system would accelerate inflation.

Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (SID, CSNA3.BR) fell 1.5% to $6.13, Russia's Mechel OAO (MTL, MTLR.RS) dropped 2.7% to $6.91 and Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, RIO.AU, RIO.LN) declined 1.6% to $55.65.

The European index rose 0.2% to 130.20.

Among notable movers in the index, some drug makers were on the rise after UBS upgraded the pharmaceutical sector to overweight from neutral and highlighted it as its preferred defensive play.

U.S.-listed shares of Denmark's Novo Nordisk AS (NVO, NOVO-B.KO) moved 1.3% higher to $173.09 and France's Sanofi SA (SNY, SAN.FR) added 0.9% to $48.87.

The Asian index fell 0.3% to 134.82.

Chinese stocks were mostly lower after the pick up in inflation. Solar-panel maker Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL) fell 2.4% to $5.62, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. (SHI, 0338.HK) fell 4.8% to $35.70 and Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (ACH, 2600.HK) shed 3.5% to $12.82.

The Latin American index fell 0.7% to 340.89 and the emerging markets index shed 0.2% to 298.39.

Brazil's state-run energy company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, fell 0.7% to $19.87. Petrobras Argentina SA (PZE, PESA.BA) shares tumbled 4.6% to $4.94.

Write to Mia Lamar at [e-mail]