ADR Shares End Mixed; Telefonica, Portugal Telecom Shares Trade Actively

International stocks trading in New York were mixed on Thursday. The Bank of New York index of American depositary receipts fell 0.95% to 155.60. The European index decreased 1.1% to 153.97, the Asian index dropped 0.84% to 149.75, the Latin American index rose 0.6% to 296.56 and the emerging markets index declined 0.13% to 294.31. Among the companies with shares that actively traded were Telefonica SA (TEF, TEF.MC) and Portugal Telecom SGPS SA (PT, PTC.LB).

The European Union's top court on Thursday upheld a record 152 million euro ($207 million) fine imposed on Spanish telecom giant Telefonica in 2007 for stifling competition in Spain's broadband Internet market. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg said EU regulators had demonstrated that Telefonica's behavior in Spain had had "potential anticompetitive effects that may have excluded competitors." Shares fell 2.7% to $16.53.

Espirito Santo Financial Group SA Thursday said it has suspended trading in its own shares and bonds. In a news release, Espirito Santo Financial Group said the suspension was due to "ongoing material difficulties at its largest shareholder Espirito Santo International SA." Portugal Telecom last week disclosed that it has EUR897 million ($1.22 billion) in commercial paper from a unit of Espirito Santo, which is due on July 15. Portugal Telecom shares fell 6.8% to $2.60.

Vodafone Group PLC (VOD, VODPF, VOD.LN) said Thursday that it will continue international arbitration to resolve its multibillion-dollar tax dispute with India. While unveiling the country's national budget Thursday, India's new finance minister, Arun Jaitley, said that while India is trying to create a more predictable taxation system, pending tax disputes will have to be resolved by the courts. Some observers had hoped the budget might contain some resolutions for long-pending tax disputes like the one with Vodafone. Shares fell 0.8% to $32.44.

Write to Tess Stynes at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires