ADRs End Higher; Oil Majors Rise

International stocks trading in New York closed higher on Wednesday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 2.1% to 129.57. The European index increased 2.4% to 128.83, the Asian index improved 1.3% to 141.08, the Latin American index advanced 2.3% to 150.81 and the emerging markets index rose 1.4% to 222.27.

Oil majors were among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

Oil prices rallied Wednesday after government data showed an unexpectedly large decline in U.S. stockpiles, a rare reprieve from the flood of oil that had been flowing into storage and weighing on prices for crude. Among major oil companies, BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) rose 5.1% to $32.35, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP, 0386.HK) increased 5.6% to $63.61, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) advanced 5.8% to $47.02, Total SA (TOT, FP.FR) rose 4% to $46.24 and YPF SA (YPF, YPFD.BA) increased 3.2% to $16.50.

ADRs in other commodities sectors also rallied, including mining companies. Among miners, BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP, BHP.AU) rose 5.8% to $25.96, BHP Billiton PLC (BBL, BLT.LN) increased 5.9% to $23.23 and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, RIO.LN) advanced 5.7% to $29.86.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 23, 2015 17:12 ET (22:12 GMT)

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