STO Santos Limited

International companies trading in New York closed mixed Wednesday, in line with the broader markets, as energy stocks fell along with crude prices.

The Bank of New York index of ADRs ended lower at 0.4% to 121.96.

The selloff in crude-oil futures gained steam after U.S. weekly oil data showed a sharp drop in demand and a larger-than-expected rise in oil stockpiles.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC's (RDSA, RDSB, RDSA.LN, RDSB.LN) class A American depository shares fell 3.3% to $71.91, Statoil ASA (STO, STL.OS) closed 2.1% lower at $25.28, and Total SA (TOT, FP.FR) declined 1.3% to $50.84.

Shares of Spanish oil firm Repsol YPF SA (REPYY, REP.MC) dropped 1.8% to $28.38 after it sold 5% of its own shares to institutional investors instead of another company in its sector.

The European index fell 0.8% to 112.25.

ARM Holding PLCs' (ARMH, ARM.LN) meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show conference in Las Vegas was positive, says UBS. The firm said ARM Holding is seeing good penetration of its graphics, which UBS reckons will translate into market share of at least 70% globally in Digital TVs. The firm is a little disappointed there wasn't more positive news flow from the conference for the company, but still feels comfortable with the recently introduced short-term buy rating. Shares of ARM Holding were down 3.3% to $26.99.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded Unilever (UL, ULVR.LN) to underperform from neutral and cuts its price target, saying the company is one of the most expensive stocks in its consumer-staples universe, trading at a 10% premium versus a historical 10% discount to parity. It expects the management to issue a cautious 2012 outlook at its full year results in early February. Shares closed 3.8% lower at $32.07.

The Asian index added 0.2% to 118.50

Alcohol producer China New Borun Corp. (BORN) said it has signed presales contracts worth about 90% of its total output capacity this year. Shares finished 29% higher at $4.32.

Sify Technologies Ltd. (SIFY, IWY1.FF) said it plans to invest INR4 billion to INR5 billion in India over the next two to three years to expand its network capacity and set up data centers. Shares were up 3.2% to $4.78

The Latin American index advanced 0.6% to 349.41 and emerging markets index climbed 0.4% to 289.31.

Selling by insiders at Brazil's Gerdau SA (GGB GGBR4.BR) is a concern as there's no indication the sales will stop in near term, Barclays Capital says. "In our coverage universe, Gerdau is the only company where 'insiders' are materially selling their own shares," the firm said. Nonetheless, Barclays still considers Gerdau the best risk/return bet among steel players in Brazil. Shares were up 2.5% to $9.21.

Oil producers and mining companies were battening down ahead of a tropical cyclone headed for the coast of Western Australia's iron-ore-rich Pilbara region, with ports shutting down and ordering ships to anchor at sea. Santos Ltd. (SSLTY, STO.AU) suspended output while Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, RIO.AU, RIO.LN), the world's second-largest iron-ore producer after Brazil's Vale SA (VALE, VALE5.BR), stopped loading iron-ore on ships from terminals. Santos closed 2.6% lower to $12.98, while Vale shares climbed 1.4% to $23.18 and Rio shares closed 1.1% higher to $53.56.

-By Maya Pope-Chappell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3670; Maya.pope-chappell@dowjones.com

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