Oh no ! DJ ADR REPORT: Insurers, Miners Hit As Wall Street Slides
By Carla Mozee
U.S.-listed shares of overseas companies dropped Monday, with shares of European insurance companies part of a sharp selloff on Wall Street as subprime-related trouble continues to crop up. The Bank of New York Mellon American Depositary Receipt Composite Index fell 2.6% to 190.56. Just 50 of the 395 shares tracked on the index posted gains. Among the few winners was Deutsche Telekom, which rose 2.1% to $22.19. France Telecom gained 1.6% to trade at $38.92, and China Netcom rose 2.4% to $53.75. At the same time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 200 points and fell below the 13000 level. Citigroup Inc. led blue-chip declines after Goldman Sachs downgraded the banking giant to sell from neutral. The broker said it Citigroup could take up to $15 billion in credit-related write-downs during the next two quarters. The European ADR Index stumbled 2.6%. European stock markets suffered their worst session in two months after reinsurance firm Swiss Re said it will take a $1.1 billion loss because of exposure to the U.S. subprime housing market. Meanwhile, NYSE-listed shares of Dutch insurance giant ING Groep fell 3.8% to $37.06. AXA fell 3.8% to $38.57 and Allianz dropped 3% to $20.23. All mining shares were down, with Anglo-American PLC leading the pack with a 7.7% decline at $29.29. Gold futures fell sharply, by $9 to $778 an ounce, extending their $47 decline in the previous week. CVRD fell 5.4% to $33.51, Gold Fields fell 3.7% to $17.08 and AngloGold Ashanti fell 5.4% to $33.51. Shares of Rio Tinto fell 6.2% to $415 and BHP Billiton dropped 5.6% to $70.51 after the head of Japan's steel industry federation said the group is against a possible merger between the miners. The group said its concerned about weaker negotiating power for iron ore and coal suppliers if a deal were to go through. Rio Tinto recently rebuffed an offer from BHP.
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