International stocks trading in New York closed lower Wednesday,
with the Bank of New York index of American depositary receipts
falling 0.6% to 149.59. The European index dropped 0.6% to 150.08,
the Asian index shed 0.5% to 143.85, the Latin American index
declined 0.4% to 256.31 and the emerging-markets index slipped 0.2%
to 261.74. Companies with shares that actively traded included
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP, 0386.HK, 600028.SH).
China Petroleum & Chemical, known as Sinopec Corp., plans to
open up its domestic marketing and distribution operations to
outside investors, in a nod to Beijing's latest efforts to reform
state-owned companies and encourage a mixed-ownership economy.
Sinopec, China's largest oil-refining company, however, stopped
short of fully opening up its gasoline stations and other
distribution lines to third parties by capping the amount of
outside investment at 30%, highlighting the gradual pace of such
reforms. Still, Sinopec shares rose 8.4% to $83.51.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS, RBS.LN) said Wednesday it
is selling parts of its structured retail investor products and
equity derivatives businesses, as well as associated market-making
activities, to BNP Paribas SA (BNPQY, BNP.FR) for an undisclosed
sum. The company said the sale price wasn't a significant amount
but that the deal was intended to reduce risk for the bank, which
is 81% owned by the government. Separately, the company also on
Wednesday agreed to pay $275 million to settle a class-action suit
that alleged the state-controlled bank misled investors who bought
mortgage-backed securities. Shares fell 1% to $11.92.
Vodafone Group PLC (VOD, VOD.LN) hit back Wednesday after the
Indian government criticized the cellphone giant amid scrapped
talks to resolved a long-standing $2 billion tax dispute. Vodafone
said it had reached out for a resolution, and "has sought to engage
directly with the Indian government to see if an outcome acceptable
to both parties could be achieved." Separately, the company said it
will get 1.27 billion Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) shares as
part of the consideration agreed under the deal to share its
interest in the Verizon Wireless joint venture. Vodafone shares
rose 0.7% to $37.33.
Japanese prosecutors raided the Tokyo office of Novartis AG
(NVS, NOVN.VX) on Wednesday as part of a criminal investigation
into whether a unit of the Swiss drug giant violated the law by
releasing misleading advertising for one of its drugs. Novartis
shares fell 1.2% to $81.76.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires