By Anna Prior 
 

International companies trading in New York closed generally flat Tuesday as investors continued to ponder lingering uncertainties surrounding Federal Reserve policy, as well as budget discussions in Washington.

The Bank of New York index of ADRs was essentially flat at 145.22.

Senate leaders are working on a bill to fund federal agencies into the new fiscal year, but it remains unclear whether Congress can finish the job in time to avoid a partial government shutdown.

In Europe, data showed a pickup in German business confidence, with the Ifo Institute's business sentiment index for September rising to 107.7 from 107.5 in August, just shy of expectations of 108.

The European index was also flat at 139.38.

Total SA (TOT, FP.FR) shares climbed after Barclays upgraded the French oil giant to equal weight from underweight, saying that the company's capital markets day was "enough to convince us that it can control capex more than we had previously anticipated." Shares rose 1.7% to $58.17.

Telecom Italia SpA (TI, TIA, TIT.MI) and Spain's Telefonica SA (TEF, TEF.MC) reached a deal to allow the Spanish firm to gradually take over Telco, which is the largest shareholder in the Italian telecom firm. Telecom Italia shares rose 1% to $8.09, while Telefonica shares edged down 0.3% to $15.13.

Meanwhile, Carnival PLC (CUK, CCL.LN) said fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 30% as revenue and a key industry metric declined and the cruise ship company recorded $203 million in asset write-downs. The company projected a bottom line for the fiscal fourth quarter that was much worse than expectations. Shares fell 7.7% to $35.71.

The Asian index also was flat at 148.35.

Posting gains were Chinese solar stocks, with China Sunergy Co. (CSUN) up 7.2% to $3.27, Hanwha SolarOne Co. (HSOL) up 6.7% to $3.65, JinkoSolar Holding Co. (JKS) up 4.9% to $18.78, Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL, K3KD.SG) adding 4.1% to $11.73, JA Solar Holdings CO. (JASO) up 1.7% to $8.75, and Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP, K3ND.SG) up 2.3% to $1.34.

The Latin American index edged down 0.5% to 297.45 and the emerging markets index slipped 0.5% to 277.87.

Brazilian mining giant Vale SA (VALE, VALE3.BR, VALE5.BR) will "probably" sell more assets by the end of the year as it has continued shopping for buyers of its stake in several noncore businesses and is also working on a deal that could "surprise" the market, Chief Executive Murilo Ferreira said Tuesday. Still, Vale shares slipped 1.6% to $16.17.

Meanwhile, shares in Brazilian phone companies TIM Participacoes SA (TSU, TIMP3.BR) and Telefonica Brasil SA (VIV, VIVT4.BR), or Vivo, rose amid the news that Vivo's parent, Spanish phone company Telefonica, will effectively take control of TIM's parent, Telecom Italia. An eventual merger between TIM and Vivo in Brazil would create the nation's dominant phone company, but such a merger would have to pass scrutiny by antitrust authorities. TIM shares rose 9.9% to $25.41, while Vivo shares added 4.2% to $23.50. Another Brazilian phone company, Oi SA (OIBR, OIBRC, OIBR4.BR), also rose, adding 5.5% to $2.29.

Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com

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