ADR Shares End Higher; Total, Baidu Shares Active

International stocks trading in New York closed higher on Friday, with the Bank of New York index of American depositary receipts adding 0.4% to 154.42. The European index rose 0.5% to 154.77, the Asian index added 0.3% to 143.49, the Latin American index climbed 0.6% to 295.28 and the emerging markets index rose 0.8% to 285.91. Among the companies with shares that actively traded were Total SA (TOT, FP.FR) and Baidu Inc. (BIDU, K3SD.SG).

Oil major Total Chairman and Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie confirmed on Friday that he plans to attend a conference later this month in St. Petersburg, Russia, while other Western executives have been skipping the event because of tensions between the West and Moscow over Ukraine. He also noted that the diplomatic crisis between Russia and Ukraine could slightly delay the start of production of a liquefied natural gas project in northern Russia. Shares rose 1% to $71.00.

Chinese search giant Baidu said it will invest $300 million in a new research-and-development center in Silicon Valley that will have almost 200 employees and be led by Andrew Ng, most recently the head of Stanford University's artificial-intelligence lab. Shares slipped 0.4% to $154.77.

Mining company Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, RIO.LN) has privately assured Guinea that its recently filed lawsuit against Brazilian rival Vale SA (VALE, VALE3.BR, VALE5.BR) isn't a secret move to reclaim control of a valuable African iron-ore project, according to a letter seen by The Wall Street Journal. Rio Tinto shares fell 2.8% to $55.18 and Vale shares dropped 1.8% to $13.73.

A newspaper controlled by Chinese legal officials leveled fresh accusations at GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK, GSK.LN) on Friday, just two days after police accused its former top China executive of orchestrating widespread corporate bribery to boost sales. Shares of the U.K. drug maker fell 0.1% to $55.43.

China Southern Airlines Co. (ZNH, 1055.HK, 600029.SH, K3TD.SG) signed an agreement to buy a total of 80 passenger aircraft from Airbus Group NV as Chinese carriers go on a buying spree with the European plane maker and rival Boeing Co. Shares of the Guangzhou-based carrier fell 0.8% to $15.14.

Italy's Eni SpA (E, ENI.MI) said it and partner Statoil ASA (STO, STL.OS) had decided to further delay the start-up of the Goliat oil field in the Barents Sea to mid-2015 after technical challenges and significant cost overruns. Eni shares rose 1.5% to $51.29, while Statoil shares rose 0.8% to $30.15.

Write to Anna Prior at [e-mail]

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