By Josh Beckerman
International stocks trading in New York closed lower Friday.
The Bank of New York index of American depositary receipts fell
0.37% to 154.81. The European index fell 0.03% to 151.53, the Asian
index dropped 0.47% to 153.04, the Latin American index fell 2.53%
to 298.01 and the emerging markets index declined 1.51% to 306.30.
Among the companies with shares that actively traded were Barclays
PLC (BCS, BARC.LN) and British American Tobacco PLC (BTI,
BATS.LN.)
Barclays said it appointed John McFarlane, chairman of U.K.
insurer Aviva PLC (AV, AV.LN), as its next chairman. Mr. McFarlane
will join the Barclays board on Jan. 1 and replace David Walker as
chairman at next year's annual general meeting, the bank said.
Meanwhile, Aviva said Adrian Montague will become nonexecutive
chairman. Barclays shares rose 2.4% to $15.10 while Aviva fell 0.8%
to $17.06.
British American Tobacco (BTI, BATS.LN) said it would start
selling a cigarette alternative approved by the U.K. government's
health-care authority. The device, called Voke, this week received
a medicinal license from the U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare
Products Regulatory Agency. That means it can be sold as a safer
alternative to cigarettes in the same way as nicotine gum or
patches, and can also be prescribed by doctors. BAT shares rose
0.37% to $118.05.
HSBC Holdings PLC's (HSBC, HSBA.LN) North American arm agreed to
pay $550 million to settle a U.S. housing regulator's claims that
the bank failed to adequately disclose the risks on mortgage bonds
it sold before the financial crisis to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
HSBC was one of 18 financial firms targeted by the Federal Housing
Finance Agency in lawsuits filed in 2011. HSBC shares rose 0.55% to
$53.37.
In a fight that highlights global sensitivity over genetically
modified crops, Syngenta AG (SYT, SYNN.VX) was sued by Cargill
Inc., which claimed the Swiss seed maker's push to sell
bioengineered corn seeds that weren't approved in China cost the
U.S. grain company $90 million when Beijing rejected corn
shipments. Syngenta said the lawsuit filed in Louisiana state court
is without merit. Syngenta fell 0.83% to $68.50.
Norway's Statoil ASA (STO, STL.OS) said it had sold several oil
and gas assets to Wintershall AG for up to $1.3 billion, and that
it would use the cash to invest heavily in new projects. In
addition to the payment, Statoil said it would save capital
expenditure of $1.8 billion through 2020. Statoil shares fell 0.07%
to $27.57.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires