By Mia Lamar
International companies trading in New York closed higher
Friday, with energy firms among the strongest gainers.
The Bank of New York index of ADRs rose 0.7% to 135.92.
Shares of oil companies rose as crude futures turned higher,
essentially erasing Thursday's losses. Norway's Statoil SAS (STO,
STL.OS) ended up 1.1% at $24.56, while Spain's Repsol SA (REPYY,
REP.MC) gained 0.8% to $21.75.
The European index rose 0.9% to 128.39.
Also in energy news, shares of the U.K.'s BP PLC (BP, BP.LN)
rose 2.7% to $42 as the oil major said it plans to buy back $8
billion of its own shares to return its 2003 investment in the
joint venture TNK-BP to shareholders.
The Asian index rose 0.5% to 136.17, and the emerging markets
index gained 0.3% to 278.43.
Shares of telecoms company China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. (CHU,
0762.HK)--China's second-largest mobile operator by
subscribers--rose 2.5% to $13.89 after the comapny reported a 68%
on-year jump for its 2012 net profit, beating analyst
forecasts.
The Latin American index rose 0.2% to 322.08, and the emerging
markets index gained 0.3% to 278.43.
Shares of Brazilian blue-chips Petrobras (PBR, PETR4.BR), the
government-run oil company, and Vale (VALE, VALE5.BR), the mining
behemoth, closed mixed. Petrobras shares fell 0.2% to $16.85, and
Vale shares gained 0.4% to $16.33.
Write to Mia Lamar at mia.lamar@dowjones.com