International stocks trading in New York closed mixed on Friday,
with the Bank of New York index of American depositary receipts
falling 0.4% to 153.63. The European index dropped 0.6% to 154.39,
the Asian index rose 0.3% to 141.93, the Latin American index
slipped 0.6% to 291.83 and the emerging markets index was
essentially flat at 281.2. Among the companies with shares that
actively traded were ArcelorMittal (MT, MT.FR, MT.AE) and
Alcatel-Lucent SA (ALU, ALU.FR).
ArcelorMittal posted a loss Friday, its seventh straight
quarterly, blaming in large part higher natural-gas prices and the
harsh winter in the U.S., which delayed shipments. The world's
biggest steelmaker said demand is finally firming in Europe but
falling in the former Soviet Union because of the crisis in
Ukraine, where it owns one of the world's largest steelmaking
complexes. It reduced slightly its estimate for global demand.
Shares fell 3.8% to $15.73.
Network-equipment company Alcatel-Lucent narrowed its loss in
the first quarter, after the company managed to reduce costs and
boost growth at its Internet-routing division. Still, shares of the
Franco-American maker of everything from submarine cables to
wireless-network gear fell 4.2% to $3.85.
China will give its state-controlled telecommunications giants
greater freedom to set their own prices for phone, mobile and other
services, in its latest effort to bring more market principles to
its stodgy government-run companies. Still, shares of China Mobile
Ltd. (CHL, K3PD.SG, 0941.HK) edged down 0.1% to $48.16, China
Telecom Corp. (CHA, 0728.HK, K3ED.SG) declined 2% to $52.65 and
China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. (CHU, K3ID.SG, 0762.HK) dropped 2.6%
to $15.84.
Telefonica SA (TEF, TEF.MC) said that first-quarter net profit
fell 23%, hit by exchange rate turmoil in Latin America and falling
revenue in Spain and Germany. Shares of the Spanish company--and
Europe's second-largest telecommunications firm--fell 2.5% to
$16.12.
The chief executive of WPP PLC (WPPGY, WPP.LN), the world's
biggest advertising firm, said the proposed merger between
advertising agencies Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) and Publicis Group SA
(PUBGY, PUB.FR) was "driven by ego issues" and a desire to
"dislodge WPP." The $35 billion deal between Omnicom and Publicis
unraveled late Thursday. WPP shares declined 0.7% to $107.01.
The chairman of Credit Suisse AG (CS, CSGN.VX) assured
shareholders the bank was doing everything possible to resolve an
outstanding tax issues with the U.S. but offered little insight
into how or when the problem would be put to rest. Shares fell 1.4%
to $30.53.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com
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