By Corrie Driebusch Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- International companies trading in New York closed sharply higher Wednesday, in line with the broader market, following a drop in Spanish and Italian government borrowing rates. The Bank of New York index of ADRs rose 1.1% to 124.94. Bond yields in Italy and Spain fell after a member of the European Central Bank's policy-making council sparked speculation about a restart of the bank's bond-buying program. Spanish banks Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA, BBVA.MC) jumped 5.2% to $7.14 and Banco Santander SA (STD, SAN.MC) rose 2.9% to $6.70. Deutsche Bank AG (DB, DBK.XE) gained 3.6% to $45.06 and ING Groep NV (ING, INGA.AE) climbed 3.7% to $7.26. The European index added 1% to 113.88. UBS upgrades Telefonica SA (TEF, TEF.MC) to neutral from sell, saying the shares have underperformed the telecommunications sector and European market and are "no longer at a premium." Shares of the Spanish company rose 2.3% to $15.40. Volkswagen (VOW.XE, VLKAY) advanced 3.4% to $30.75 after reporting a 15% rise in global car sales for its VW passenger car brand. That helped lift shares of Daimler (DDAIY, DAI.XE) 2.6% to $54.35. Offsetting those gains was Nokia Corp. (NOK, NOK1V.HE), whose shares plunged 16% to $4.24 after the telecom firm lowered its first-quarter outlook for its Devices & Services business. The Asian index climbed 1.5% to 125.52 as solar companies jumped. LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (LDK) traded up 4.3% to $3.37, Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP, K3ND.SG) surged 7.9% to $2.73, Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL, K3KD.SG) soared 6.1% to $6.75 and Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (YGE) added 4.8% to $3.49. The Latin American index gained 0.7% to 354.25 and the emerging markets index ended up 0.9% at 295.46. Companhia Paranaense de Energia (ELP, CPLE5.BR, CPLE6.BR), the Brazilian electric utility known as Copel, is studying the purchase of assets from rival Grupo Rede, which is going through difficulties and may be broken up, the InfoMoney news agency reported Wednesday. Shares of Copel added 1.2% to $23.82. -By Corrie Driebusch, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2143; corrie.driebusch@dowjones.com
