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ADRs Close Mostly Lower; AstraZeneca, Diageo Trade Actively

September 01, 2021 at 03:10 am IST

International stocks trading in New York closed mostly lower on Thursday.

The S&P/BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts declined 0.3% to 159.12. The European index decreased 0.4% to 140.33. The Asian index declined 0.3% to 215.12. And the Latin American index eased 0.2% to 185.97.

Meanwhile, the emerging-markets index improved 0.4% to 352.40.

AstraZeneca PLC and Diageo PLC were among the companies whose ADRs traded actively.

The Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC and Oxford University showed 74% efficacy at preventing symptomatic illness in a large late-stage trial conducted in the U.S., Chile and Peru, according to data published in the New England Journal Of Medicine on Thursday, MarketWatch reported. The Phase 3 trial involved 32,451 participants and sought to determine the vaccine's efficacy in preventing symptomatic illness measured 15 days after the second dose. The AstraZeneca vaccine hasn't been authorized in the U.S. The data showed the vaccine had an 83.5% estimated efficacy in participants aged 65 or older. It proved safe with no serious adverse events and local and systemic reactions were generally mild or moderate. The trial was conducted in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health. ADRs rose 0.7% to $60.06.

Diageo PLC said Thursday that it has had a strong start to the fiscal year, and that it expects organic operating margins to benefit from a further recovery in sales volumes. ADRs closed 1% higher at $193.

Pharmaceutical giants Merck KGaA and GlaxoSmithKline PLC have decided to terminate their agreement for the development of cancer treatment bintrafusp alfa. GlaxoSmithKline's ADRs closed down 0.3% at $38.21; while Merck's, which trade in New York over the counter, rose 1.1% to $43.47.