By Anna Prior
International companies trading in New York closed mixed Friday
as a solid U.S. jobs report stoked both fears of a tapering of the
Federal Reserve's bond-buying program and hopes that a
strengthening economy could bolster corporate profits.
The Bank of New York index of American depositary shares added
0.6% to 147.06.
The U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs in October, the Labor
Department said Friday, much higher than the 120,000 expected by
economists. The unemployment rate rose to 7.3%.
Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's lowered France's credit rating
to AA from AA+, saying that President Francois Hollande has shown
an "inability to significantly reduce total government
spending."
The European index rose 0.6% to 143.00.
Financial stocks generally added to gains, with Lloyds Banking
Group PLC (LYG, LLOY.LN) rising 4% to $4.93, Barclays PLC (BCS,
BARC.LN) adding 2.2% to $16.46, and Deutsche Bank AG (DB, DBK.XE)
edging up 0.6% to $46.58.
Belgian holding group Groupe Bruxelles Lambert SA said it has
sold a 0.3% stake in Total SA (TOT, FP.FR). Shares for the French
oil company fell 0.2% to $58.87.
The Asian index climbed 0.9% to 147.31.
Mumbai-based auto maker Tata Motors Ltd.'s (TTM, 500570.BY)
profit rose for the first time in four quarters, with strong
performance at unit Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC helping it
beat market expectations and mask weak demand at home in India.
Shares rose 3.7% to $30.77.
Chinese solar stocks rallied, with Hanwha SolarOne Co. (HSOL)
jumping 11% to $5.13, JinkSolar Holding Co. (JKS) rising 11% to
$25.98, ReneSola Ltd. (SOL) climbing 9.3% to $4.81 and JA Solar
Holdings Co. (JASO) rising 8.3% to $10.98. LDK Solar Co. (LDK),
Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. (YGE), Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL,
K3KD.SG) and China Sunergy Co. (CSUN) also posted gains.
The Latin American index fell 0.9% to 288.57, and the
emerging-markets index dropped 0.1% to 274.87.
Several Brazilian companies added to declines, with airline Gol
Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOL, GOLL4.BR) shedding 7.5% to
$4.59 and three banks--Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB, ITUB3.BR,
ITUB4.BR), Banco Bradesco SA (BBD, BBDC4.BR, BBDO), and Banco
Santander (Brasil) SA (BSBR, SANB3.BR, SANB4.BR)--also falling.
Write to Anna Prior at anna.prior@wsj.com