International stocks trading in New York closed higher on Thursday. The Bank of New York index of American depositary receipts rose 0.50% to 159.32. The European index increased 0.55% to 158.49, the Asian index edged up 0.26% to 153.11, the Latin American index rose 1.04% to 292.80 and the emerging markets index rose 0.73% to 295.67. Among the companies with shares that actively traded were NQ Mobile Inc. (NQ) and Barclays PLC (BCS, BARC.LN).

On Thursday scandal-plagued Barclays presented its "Compliance Career Academy." Delivered in partnership with Cambridge Judge Business School, the project aims to train all 2,100 Barclays compliance staff in how to protect the interests of the bank's customers. Shares rose 1.14% to $15.11.

Unipetrol AS (UNPTY, BAAUNIPE.PR) Thursday said it has agreed to buy out the entire stake held by a unit of Eni SpA (E, ENI.MI) in a Czech crude oil refinery for 30 million euros ($40.8 million) in a transaction that put the Czech petrochemical company in full control of refining capacities in the country. Eni's shares rose 0.22% to $55.30.

The European Union has approved GlaxoSmithKline PLC's (GSK, GSK.LN) and Genmab A/S's (GEN.KO) leukemia treatment Arzerra to be used in patients unable to use an alternative drug. Shares rose 0.41% to $54.52.

Chinese mobile Internet company NQ's audit-committee chair has resigned for "personal reasons not related to her role at the company," the company said Thursday. Auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers told NQ it wanted to expand the scope of its audit and perform additional procedures. Bucking the trend, shares plunged 32% to $4.58.

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