ADRs End Higher; SAP Rises

International stocks trading in New York closed higher on Wednesday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts increased 0.9% to 126.08. The European index rose 1% to 122.30. The Asian index improved 0.6% to 135.88. The Latin American index improved 0.5% to 197.95. And the emerging markets index rose 0.6% to 244.74.

SAP SE (SAP, SAP.XE) was among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

Netherlands-based semiconductor-equipment maker ASML Holding NV ASML Holding NV (ASML, ASML.AE) Wednesday recorded sharp improvements in earnings and sales amid strong demand from makers of logic and memory-chips. ADRs rose 2.4% to $108.16.

The Justice Department on Wednesday signed off on Anheuser-Busch InBev NV's Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (BUD, ABI.BT) roughly $108 billion acquisition of rival SABMiller PLC, after the beer companies agreed to several conditions to secure the government's approval. Anheuser-Busch InBev's ADRs rose1.3% to $126.22.

BHP Billiton plans to tip more iron ore into the global market in the year ahead, as miners show few signs of holding back output of the commodity despite a worsening glut. On Wednesday, the world's biggest by market value, forecast its vast network of iron-ore mines in remote northwest Australia, the source of much of the global trade in the commodity, could produce up to 7% more in the year ahead versus the prior 12 months. ADRs of BHP Billiton PLC (BBL, BLT.LN) fell 1.5% to $24.40 and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP, BHP.AU) fell 1.4% to $28.32.

German business-software provider SAP posted a 73% jump in net profit for the second quarter of 2016, boosted by lower restructuring costs year-over-year and cloud growth. SAP also confirmed its guidance for the full year. ADRs rose 5.5% to $83.71.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 20, 2016 19:01 ET (23:01 GMT)

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