By Anna Prior
International companies trading in New York closed higher
Thursday a day after U.S. lawmakers struck a deal to end the
partial government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.
The Bank of New York index of ADRs jumped 1.33% to 148.99.
Investors are now starting to turn their focus away from U.S.
politics and have started to wrestle with corporate-earnings
reports. On Thursday, Swiss heavyweight Nestle SA (NSRGY, NESN.VX)
gave an upbeat earnings report.
The European index rose 1.5% to 143.30.
Financial stocks added to gains. UBS AG (UBS, UBSN.VX) rose 1.3%
to $21.10; Banco Santander SA (SAN, SAN.MC) was up 2% to $9.27;
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG, LLOY.LN) was up 2.2% to $5.05; and
Deutsche Bank AG (DB, DBK.XE) added 1.4% to $50.28.
Amarin Corp. PLC (AMRN) said a U.S. Food and Drug Administration
advisory committee has voted against the approval of its
supplemental new drug application for its cholesterol drug Vascepa.
Shares plunged 61% to $2.01.
The Asian index added 1.1% to 151.22.
Pactera Technology International Ltd. (PACT) agreed to a
sweetened offer to be taken private by a group led by U.S.
private-equity firm Blackstone Group L.P. (BX) valued at about $589
million. The Chinese information-technology outsourcing company's
shareholders would receive $7.30 per American depositary share.
Shares rose 8.1% to $7.07.
The Latin American index climbed 0.7% to 305.37 and the
emerging-markets index added 0.9% to 287.54.
Argentinian shares adding to gains included Cresud SA (CRESY,
CSNA3.BR), which rose 8.7% to $10.65; IRSA Inversiones y
Representaciones SA (IRS, IRSA.BA), up 6.8% to $11.58; and Edenor
SA (EDN, EDN.BA), which rose 6.1% to $6.31.
Shares of Brazilian steel companies fell, however, after Bank of
America Merrill Lynch reduced its recommendation on Gerdau SA (GGB,
GGBR3.BR, GGBR4.BR) to hold from outperform, and reiterated its
underperform recommendation on Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (SID,
CSNA3.BR). Gerdau shares fell 3.4% to $7.96, while Companhia
Siderurgica shares edged down 0.3% to $5.46.
Scotiabank played down market speculation that Potash Corp.
(POT) may consider trying to buy the 67% stake of Chilean potash
producer Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA (SQM, SQM-B.SN) it
doesn't already own to take advantage of SQM's relatively weak
stock price. SQM shares fell 0.8% to $27.46.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com
