ADR Shares End Mixed; Royal Dutch Shell Shares Fall

International stocks trading in New York were mixed on Wednesday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts edged up 0.38% to 146.56. The European index eased 0.22% to 143.32; the Asian index improved 1.64% to 156.25; the Latin American index rose 0.96% to 221.98; and the emerging markets index increased 2.28% to 270.90. Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA, RDSA.LN) was among the companies with ADRs that actively traded.

Royal Dutch Shell fell 3.4% to $59.83 after the oil giant agreed to buy BG Group PLC (BRGYY, BG.LN) for about $70 billion. The deal would create the world's largest independent producer of liquefied natural gas amid a historic downturn in energy prices. The planned acquisition also confirms an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal. Among other oil companies whose ADRs advanced, BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) rose 1.3% to $40.77.

ADRs of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) rose 3.9% to $85.39 after the Chinese e-commerce giant proposed an injection of assets into its unprofitable movie arm. Alibaba Group has proposed folding its online movie ticketing business and its movie production crowdfunding platform into its Alibaba Pictures unit.

Aviva PLC (AV, AV.LN) said an agreement to sell products through Singapore's DBS Bank Ltd. will conclude at year's end because the cost to renew was too high. The U.K.-based insurer said the end of the pact won't have a material effect on its business and that it will retain the existing book of business, associated profit, and customer rights and relationships bought in the original transaction with DBS in 2001. Aviva ADRs rose 1.6% to $16.54.

The U.S. unit of Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA, BBVA.MC) introduced a new service Wednesday that allows its customers to send and receive money instantly. BBVA Compass is providing the service through Dwolla, one of a growing number of financial-technology start-ups that circumvent the national payments infrastructure that has been in place for decades. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria ADRs fell eight cents to $10.41.

ADRs of Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. (SHI, 0338.HK, 600688.SH, K3DD.SG) rose 13% to $47.25 after the oil producer said it expects to swing to a first-quarter profit thanks to weaker oil prices that resulted in lower crude-processing costs.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

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