By Nathalie Tadena Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- International companies trading in New York closed lower Friday, in line with the broader market, due to continued concerns about a potential global recession and the health of the European banking system. The Bank of New York index of ADRs fell 1.5% to 119.24, weighed by shares of European banks. Exane BNP Paribas said Friday that investors were being spooked by a number of factors, including dollar liquidity, worries that European banks haven't marked down their sovereign-debt exposures enough, and the risk of an economic recession. Societe Generale SA (SCGLY, GLE.FR) closed 6.2% lower to $5.94, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS, RBS.LN) slid 7% to $6.81 and Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG, LLOY.LN) closed 5.6% lower at $1.84. The European index lost 1.9% to 108.56. The U.K.'s competition regulator said Friday it was looking to make British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC (BSYBY, BSY.LN), the nation's biggest pay-television operator, change the way it operates its Sky Movies business to allow rivals such as Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) and BT Vision to compete on a more equal footing. Shares fell 2.7% to $40.96. Meanwhile, Numis Securities upgraded ARM Holdings PLC (ARMH, ARM.LN) to buy from add, saying the depressed share price following recent market turmoil represents a buying opportunity. There are upbeat prospects in consumer computing and a positive read-across from Hewlett-Packard Co.'s (HPQ) acquisition of Autonomy (AU.LN), it noted. Shares were up 1.4% to $23.84. The Asian index slumped 0.9% to 118.58 as shares of solar companies fell. China's LDK Solar Co. (LDK) said Thursday its second-quarter and full-year financial results would be worse than expected, due to lower prices and higher costs. Shares plunged 23% to $5.06. Shares of China Sunergy Co. (CSUN) fell 3.2% to $1.22 after it reported it swung to a second-quarter loss on slumping margins and as the Chinese solar-products maker's overhead costs nearly tripled mainly related to its push into new markets. The Latin American index slid 1.1% to 342.80. Societe Generale cut Brazilian miner Vale SA's (VALE, VALE5.BR) target price to $38 from $42 after stress testing its model to take into account lower iron-ore prices. SocGen said risks to Vale's target price include low demand for iron ore and iron-ore pellets, an economic slowdown in China and market volatility. Separately, business newspaper Valor Economico said Friday that Vale is planning to set up a logistics company which may be floated on Brazil's BM&FBovespa stock exchange in 2012. Shares closed 1.6% lower at $25.63. The emerging-markets index closed 0.9% lower to 282.85. South Korea halted the sale process for Woori Finance Holdings (WF, 053000.SE), the nation's largest financial-holding company, for a second time Friday due to insufficient interest from bidders, a fresh blow to the current administration's pledge to reduce the public sector's influence in the overall economy. Shares fell 4.1% to $30.94. -By Nathalie Tadena, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3287; nathalie.tadena@dowjones.com
