International stocks trading in New York closed mixed on
Tuesday, with the Bank of New York index of American depositary
receipts essentially flat at 155.01. The European index slipped
0.2% to 155.23, the Asian index added 0.5% to 144.29, the Latin
American index was essentially flat at 296.37 and the emerging
markets index declined 0.1% to 285.63. Among the companies with
shares that actively traded were Telecom Italia SpA (TI, TIA,
TIT.MI) and GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK, GSK.LN).
Telecom Italia said that first-quarter net profit dropped nearly
40% on falling revenue in its domestic market, weakness in Brazil
and currency losses. The company, Italy's incumbent telecom
operator, also saw a further decline in its average revenue per
customer in Italy, in both mobile and fixed markets. It expects a
gradual recovery in operating profit as the competitive environment
cools somewhat this year, but expects a further fall in the overall
Italian market. Shares fell 5.7% to $12.07.
GlaxoSmithKline said that phase III study of darapladib in
patients following an acute coronary syndrome didn't hit
expectations. Shares of the pharmaceutical company still rose 0.7%
to $55.52.
Nokia Corp. (NOK, NOK1V.HE) received its second credit rating
upgrade in as many days and moved closer to its goal of achieving
investment grade, reflecting the positive view analysts have taken
on the Finnish company following the sale of its tarnished handset
business to Microsoft Corp. (MSFT). Shares of Nokia slipped 0.9% to
$7.37.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) put more pressure on AstraZeneca PLC (AZN,
AZN.LN) to engage in talks Tuesday, as Pfizer Chief Executive Ian
Read appeared before a U.K. parliamentary committee to defend his
proposed $106 billion takeover of the U.K. drug maker. Shares of
AstraZeneca added 0.6% to $78.36.
Lorenzo Zambrano, who became Mexico's poster boy for
globalization by turning global cement giant Cemex SAB (CX,
CEMEX.MX) into the country's first true multinational, died
unexpectedly Monday in Spain, the company said. Cemex shares,
however, showed resilience, posting gains. Analysts shared the
company's view that operations will continue as normal while a
replacement is named. "Volatility in the shares can't be ruled out
given the disappearance of a person so relevant to the company,
although it's clear the firm has a professional management team,"
said Banco Santander. Shares rose 0.9% to $12.81.
SAP AG (SAP, SAP.XE) is cutting a significant number of jobs as
it moves to modernize its organization and shift its focus from
packaged software to a cloud-based software delivery model. The
layoffs, which could number in the thousands, follow a recent
series of high-level executive departures, and ahead of a vote
making co-chief executive Bill McDermott the company's sole CEO.
Shares slipped 0.5% to $76.42.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires