ADRs End Mostly Higher; Royal Bank of Scotland Trades Actively

By Maria Armental

International stocks trading in New York closed mostly higher on Friday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts improved 1% to 139.32. The European index rose 1.4% to 128.63. The Asian index increased 0.3% to 161.47. And the Latin American index improved 0.5% to 255.06.

Meanwhile, the emerging-markets index fell 0.2% to 304.56.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC was among those with ADRs that traded actively.

Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday reported sharply higher profit for 2018 and said it would pay a special dividend but warned that Brexit uncertainty was putting its medium-term cost targets at risk. The U.K. lender said Friday that it would pay a special dividend of 7.5 pence a share, well ahead of the 3.0 pence penciled in by analysts. Adding an ordinary dividend, RBS said it would hand back 1.6 billion pounds ($2.05 billion) to shareholders. Such returns mark a major turning point for RBS, which only last year paid its first dividend since its 2008 bailout by the British government. The state will also be the primary beneficiary of the payout, as it still holds a 62% stake in the bank. ADRs rose 3.3% to $6.49.

Eight employees of mining giant Vale SA have been detained as part of an investigation in Brazil into the collapse of a mining tailings dam in the small town of Brumadinho that has left more than 160 people dead and scores more missing. Police detained four Vale managers and four employees of technical teams related to dam safety, authorities in the state of Minas Gerais, where Brumadinho is located, said in a statement. Police also carried out warrants to seize documents and other material. ADRs closed up 1.6% at $12.33.

Oil prices ended at a near-three-month high on Friday, closing out a week of robust gains driven by signs of shrinking global supply. BP PLC ADRs rose 1% to $42.29; Royal Dutch Shell PLC's Class A ADR rose 0.7% to $62.56 while Class B ADR eased 0.1% to $63.83; and Total SA rose 1.7% to $56.29.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 15, 2019 17:24 ET (22:24 GMT)

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