By Mia Lamar
Shares of international companies trading in New York closed
higher Monday after both U.S. and European stock markets climbed to
multi-month highs on expectations that policy makers will take
action to contain the euro-zone debt crisis.
The Bank of New York index of ADRs rose 0.6% to 112.59, helped
higher by a string of gains for financial shares. France's BNP
Paribas SA (BNPQY, BNP.FR) jumped 4.4% to $20.57, Spain's Banco
Santander SA (SAN, SAN.MC) rose 3.3% to $6.31 and the U.K.'s
Barclays Plc (BCS, BARC.LN) added 2.7% to $10.96.
Banks had also paced Friday's gains after investors reassessed
comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. The ECB
chief last week laid out a plan that could see the bank intervene
to bring down borrowing costs for countries such as Spain and
Italy, but only after they request help from the region's rescue
funds.
The European index rose 0.6% to 114.63.
German insurer Allianz SE (AZSEY, ALV.XE) also traded higher,
gaining 3% to $10.46, after J.P. Morgan analysts raised their
rating on the stock to overweight from neutral. Earnings from all
of Allianz's divisions are either in line or beat targets, the
brokerage noted, adding Allianz's solvency is robust.
The Asian index rose 0.5% to 119.36.
Shares of Changyou.com Ltd. (CYOU, K3JD.SG) soared 19% to $23.00
after second-quarter results from the Chinese online game developer
topped expectations.
The company also said its majority-owned web games subsidiary
7Road.com Ltd. plans to file a request with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission for a possible initial public offering of
American depositary shares.
Solar stocks ended roundly higher, led by a 10% gain to $2.21
for JinkoSolar Holding Co. (JKS). Shares of fellow solar-panel
maker LDK Solar Co. (LDK) also rose, adding 7.6% to $1.42, while
Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL, K3KD.SG) gained 9.6% to $4.67.
The Latin American index rose 0.9% to 324.22 and the
emerging-markets index rose 0.9% to 275.17.
Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (SID,
CSNA3.BR) was the country's biggest gainer, adding 8.6% to $5.54.
Fellow steelmaker Gerdau SA (GGB, GGBR3.BR, GGBR4.BR) also ended
higher, adding 2.7% to $21.75.
The region's financial stocks followed their overseas peers
higher. Argentina's Banco Macro SA (BMA, BMA.BA) added 4.9% to
$12.42 while Brazil's Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (ITUB, ITUB4.BR)
gained 2.1% to $16.27.
Write to Mia Lamar at mia.lamar@dowjones.com.