International stocks trading in New York were mixed on
Wednesday. The Bank of New York index of American depositary
receipts rose 0.21% to 158.52. The European index increased 0.2% to
157.63, the Asian index rose 0.41% to 152.71, the Latin American
index fell 0.26% to 289.80 and the emerging markets index rose
0.29% to 293.52. Among the companies with shares that actively
traded were Telefonica SA (TEF, TEF.MC) and Veolia Environnement SA
(VE, VIE.FR).
European Union antitrust authorities gave conditional approval
to Telefonica SA's 8.6 billion euro ($11.7 billion) takeover of
German mobile operator E-Plus on Wednesday, after a lengthy review
marked by political pressure and an unprecedented revolt by
national regulators. The merger is seen by investors as a test case
for how EU authorities will treat further deals in Europe's rapidly
consolidating telecoms sector. Telefonica shares fell 1% to
$17.06.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Veolia Environnement to equalweight
from overweight as the stock has now rerated. However, the firm
also said water and waste are "structurally growing industries," in
which the group is well positioned. Further, Morgan Stanley sees
material cyclical upside in waste management and also believes
Veolia "boasts of the most ambitious restructuring programme in the
sector." Shares fell 3.1% to $18.67.
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU, ALU.FR) shares rose 4% to $3.67 after the
French telecom company was raised to overweight from neutral by
J.P. MorganCazenove.
China Eastern Airlines Corp. (CEA, 600115.SH, 0670.HK) plans to
convert one of its units into a low-cost airline, becoming the
first Chinese state-run carrier to enter Asia's booming
budget-airline market after Beijing's move to liberalize its
aviation sector. Shares rose 0.3% to $15.32.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP, 600028.SH, 0386.HK)
is establishing a new subsidiary to house its lubricants business
as part of an effort to bring private capital into the division.
The move comes as the state-controlled company, known as Sinopec,
attempts to restructure its operations following a landmark reform
blueprint that Chinese leaders issued late last year. The
lubricants business, one of the fastest-growing industries in
China's energy sector, is being driven by the rapid growth of
automobile purchases. Shares rose 1% to $95.75.
After months of round-robin talks among France's main mobile
operators, Orange SA (ORAN, ORA.FR) said Wednesday that it is
throwing in the towel on talks over a potential deal because its
conditions haven't been met. The disclosure pours cold water, at
least temporarily, on talks among French telecom companies about
how to reduce the number of mobile operators from four to three,
aiming to ease a price war that has engulfed France for 2 1/2
years. Orange shares fell 3.7% to $15.54.
UGI Corp. said its French subsidiary reached a preliminary deal
to acquire the liquefied-petroleum-gas unit of Total SA (TOT,
FP.FR) in France for roughly 400 million euros to 450 million euros
($547 million to $615 million). Total is aiming to sell $15 billion
to $20 billion of noncore or mature assets by 2015 as part of a
program to improve its cash flow and profitability, after several
years of massive investments for exploration and production
projects. Total shares fell 0.6% to $72.32.
Vodafone PLC (VOD) and Ireland's Electricity Supply Board, a
part state-owned utility, have formed a joint venture to invest 450
million euros ($614.6 million) to build a new fiber-broadband
network that will give people outside big cities access to speedy
Internet connections. The equally owned Irish government-backed
joint venture will start installing the new network across Ireland
in the coming months. Vodafone shares fell 0.2% to $33.45.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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