ADR Report: Shares Lower On Continued Euro-Zone Concerns

International companies trading in New York closed lower Wednesday, in line with the broader market, as investors continued to fret over the state of the euro zone.

The Bank of New York index of ADRs fell 1.7% to 117.58.

Shares of German and French banks saw added pressure as the European Central Bank's overnight deposit facility reached a second straight record, suggesting that banks would rather park cash there rather than lend it to other banks.

Deutsche Bank AG (DB, DBK.XE) ended 3.8% lower at $37.19, Societe Generale SA (SCGLY, GLE.FR) closed down 2.5% at $4.22 and Credit Agricole SA (CRARY, ACA.FR) lost 3.3% to $2.66.

Among U.K. lenders, Barclays PLC (BCS, BARC.LN) lost 3.6% to $10.73 and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS, RBS.LN) fell 3.8% to $6.16.

The European index declined 1.6% to 110.17.

Crude-oil futures edged lower in thin volume as traders awaited more clarity on possible Iranian sanctions and further news on Europe's sovereign-debt crisis. That weighed on energy stocks, with Repsol YPF SA (REPYY, REP.MC) down 4.3% at $29.60 and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSB, RDSA.LN, RDSB.LN) ending 1.6% lower at $72.26.

The Asian index shed 1.5% to 111.17.

Olympus Corp. (OCPNY, 7733.TO) closed 4.8% lower at $11.91 after the company's auditing committee of outside experts said it won't be able to deliver an interim report by the original year-end deadline.

The Latin American index fell 2.5% to 325.60.

Gold producer Minera Yanacocha SRL said late Tuesday that it supports an agreement to review the environmental-impact study of its $4.8 billion Minas Conga project in Peru. On Tuesday, Peru's government announced an agreement with authorities from Cajamarca region to hire international consultants to review Conga's environmental permit, which was approved in October 2010. Shares of Compania de Minas Buenaventura SA (BVN, BUENAVC1.VL), which has a 43.65% stake in Yanacocha, shed 4.5% to $37.54.

The emerging index dropped 1.9% to 270.28.

Renewed investor demand for cash slammed precious metals Wednesday, sending silver to its lowest level in almost a year and gold to its weakest price in five months. South African miners traded down, with Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI, GFI.JO) losing 3.5% to $15.06; Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY, HAR.JO) off 2.8% at $11.50; and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU, ANG.JO) down 3.2% to $41.08.

-By Corrie Driebusch, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2143; [e-mail]