AZN Astrazeneca Plc

   By Maria Armental 
 

International stocks trading in New York closed mostly lower on Friday.

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts eased 0.08% to 124.88. The European index edged down 0.12% to 124.13. The Asian index improved 0.24% to 131.88. The Latin American index fell 1% to 168.39. And the emerging-markets index increased 0.43% to 227.65. Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) and Baidu Inc. (BIDU) were among the companies with ADRs that traded actively.

Moody's Investors Services said Friday that while it is too early to determine any consequences of the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into Alibaba's accounting practices, the company has plenty of cash to weather a storm. On Wednesday, Alibaba disclosed the SEC investigation and described three areas of query: 1) Alibaba's business unit consolidation practices including its 47%-owned Cainiao logistics network 2) Alibaba's related-party transactions and 3) Alibaba's reporting on China's biggest online shopping day, Singles' Day. Shares closed up 3% at $80.97.

U.S. health regulators on Friday raised concerns about AstraZeneca PLC's (AZN, AZN.LN) potassium-lowering drug ZS-9. AstraZeneca acquired ZS-9 with its $2.7 billion purchase of California biotechnology company ZS Pharma Inc. last year. AstraZeneca said the Food and Drug Administration's complete response letter is about manufacturing issues, not the drug. Shares eased 0.2% to $29.88.

ADRs of Baidu rose 4% to $185.01 on Friday, a day after the company said it had changed its search algorithm, after the Chinese government ordered it to revamp the way it handled advertising results in online searches to cap ads at 30% of results displayed on the page and attach "eye catching markers" to all paid results so search users can distinguish promotions from other results. Separately, Baidu said this week it would shut down discussion forums on literature that are suspected of piracy.

European regulators on Friday approved GlaxoSmithKline PLC's (GSK, GSK.LN) treatment for a rare disease called ADA-SCID, commonly referred to as "bubble boy" disease. Children born with the genetic disorder have faulty immune systems that fail to protect them from bacteria and viruses. The treatment, Strimvelis, will be one of the few gene therapies to hit the market. ADRs closed down 0.8% at $42.75.

JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd.'s (JKS) first-quarter results easily beat analysts' estimates as shipments were well above what the Chinese company projected in early March. Still, the company affirmed shipment projections for the year. ADRs fell 3% to $22.71.

Shareholders of Dublin-based pharmaceutical company Shire PLC (SHPG, SHP.LN) and U.S.-based Baxalta Inc. on Friday approved the companies' proposed $32 billion merger. The deal, subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close on June 3. Shire ADRs closed down 2% at $186.96.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 27, 2016 17:11 ET (21:11 GMT)

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