ADR Shares End Lower As Shutdown, Debt-Ceiling Worries Persist

   By Anna Prior 
 

International companies trading in New York closed lower Tuesday amid disappointing data out of Germany and as investors continued to worry about the U.S. government shutdown and its debt-ceiling deadline in mid-October.

The Bank of New York index of American depositary receipts fell 1.3% to 141.96.

President Barack Obama sought to raise pressure on U.S. lawmakers to end the stalemate in Washington. Speaking from the White House, Mr. Obama called on Republicans to vote to reopen the federal government and increase the nation's borrowing limit, saying failure to act would create the "significant risk of a very deep recession."

Meanwhile in Germany, manufacturing orders in the euro zone's largest economy declined in August for a second month in a row versus expectations of an increase, due to a large drop in foreign orders.

The European index dropped 1.3% to 136.85, and ADRs linked to that continent were particularly hard hit.

Struggling telecom-gear maker Alcatel-Lucent SA(ALU, ALU.FR) plans to slash about 15% of its global workforce, as the company's new chief executive looks to put an end to billions of euros of losses amid successive rounds of restructuring. Shares fell 9.4% to $3.49.

Shares of Novartis AG (NVS, NOVN.VX), meanwhile, fell 2% to $73.84 after J.P. Morgan Cazenove cut the drug maker to neutral from overweight, saying it believes "that a large proportion of the benefit from improved capital allocation is already reflected in Novartis shares."

Meanwhile, the Asian index slid 1.2% to 143.47.

A bankruptcy trustee for failed solar panel manufacturer Energy Conversion Devices is suing three Chinese solar companies for $950 million over allegations of price fixing and the dumping of cheap solar panels that drove the U.S. company out of business. John Madden, who heads a trust created to recover money for Energy Conversion's creditors, said the three companies--Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL, K3KD.SG), Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (YGE) and Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP, K3ND.SG)--engaged in a far-ranging scheme to flood the market with low-cost solar panels in an illegal bid to take over the U.S. market. Trina Solar shares fell 2.7% to $15.71, while Yingli Green Energy shares dropped 4.2% to $7.79 and Suntech shares rose 5.6% to $1.70.

The Latin American index fell 1.2% to 289.65 and the emerging markets index dropped 1.4% to 273.33.

Brazilian mining giant Vale SA (VALE, VALE3.BR) sees the global iron-ore market shifting into surplus territory in coming years, with producers building up excess capacity equivalent to around 5% of demand, a top executive said Monday. A day after, shares fell 1.3% to $15.27.

Meanwhile, south African gold miners added to declines, with Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI, GFI.JO) falling 0.7% to $4.46, Drdgold Ltd. (DRD, DRD.JO) dropping 2.5% to $5.48, AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU, ANG.LO) falling 2.6% to $12.68 and Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY, HAR.JO) falling 3.9% to $3.20.

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