By Anna Prior
International companies trading in New York closed generally
flat Tuesday as investors continued to ponder lingering
uncertainties surrounding Federal Reserve policy, as well as budget
discussions in Washington.
The Bank of New York index of ADRs was essentially flat at
145.22.
Senate leaders are working on a bill to fund federal agencies
into the new fiscal year, but it remains unclear whether Congress
can finish the job in time to avoid a partial government
shutdown.
In Europe, data showed a pickup in German business confidence,
with the Ifo Institute's business sentiment index for September
rising to 107.7 from 107.5 in August, just shy of expectations of
108.
The European index was also flat at 139.38.
Total SA (TOT, FP.FR) shares climbed after Barclays upgraded the
French oil giant to equal weight from underweight, saying that the
company's capital markets day was "enough to convince us that it
can control capex more than we had previously anticipated." Shares
rose 1.7% to $58.17.
Telecom Italia SpA (TI, TIA, TIT.MI) and Spain's Telefonica SA
(TEF, TEF.MC) reached a deal to allow the Spanish firm to gradually
take over Telco, which is the largest shareholder in the Italian
telecom firm. Telecom Italia shares rose 1% to $8.09, while
Telefonica shares edged down 0.3% to $15.13.
Meanwhile, Carnival PLC (CUK, CCL.LN) said fiscal third-quarter
earnings fell 30% as revenue and a key industry metric declined and
the cruise ship company recorded $203 million in asset write-downs.
The company projected a bottom line for the fiscal fourth quarter
that was much worse than expectations. Shares fell 7.7% to
$35.71.
The Asian index also was flat at 148.35.
Posting gains were Chinese solar stocks, with China Sunergy Co.
(CSUN) up 7.2% to $3.27, Hanwha SolarOne Co. (HSOL) up 6.7% to
$3.65, JinkoSolar Holding Co. (JKS) up 4.9% to $18.78, Trina Solar
Ltd. (TSL, K3KD.SG) adding 4.1% to $11.73, JA Solar Holdings CO.
(JASO) up 1.7% to $8.75, and Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP,
K3ND.SG) up 2.3% to $1.34.
The Latin American index edged down 0.5% to 297.45 and the
emerging markets index slipped 0.5% to 277.87.
Brazilian mining giant Vale SA (VALE, VALE3.BR, VALE5.BR) will
"probably" sell more assets by the end of the year as it has
continued shopping for buyers of its stake in several noncore
businesses and is also working on a deal that could "surprise" the
market, Chief Executive Murilo Ferreira said Tuesday. Still, Vale
shares slipped 1.6% to $16.17.
Meanwhile, shares in Brazilian phone companies TIM Participacoes
SA (TSU, TIMP3.BR) and Telefonica Brasil SA (VIV, VIVT4.BR), or
Vivo, rose amid the news that Vivo's parent, Spanish phone company
Telefonica, will effectively take control of TIM's parent, Telecom
Italia. An eventual merger between TIM and Vivo in Brazil would
create the nation's dominant phone company, but such a merger would
have to pass scrutiny by antitrust authorities. TIM shares rose
9.9% to $25.41, while Vivo shares added 4.2% to $23.50. Another
Brazilian phone company, Oi SA (OIBR, OIBRC, OIBR4.BR), also rose,
adding 5.5% to $2.29.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com