Inflation concerns hit foreign ADRs

Concerns about inflation, higher interest rates, and declines in crude oil prices sent shares of foreign companies traded in the United States lower on Wednesday. The Bank of New York’s index of leading ADRs fell 0.3 percent as retailers and oil stocks were lower on the day.

Fueling investors’ worries was a US government report that lower productivity and higher wage costs could lead to inflation and inflation to higher interest rates. Energy companies were down while oil prices fell in reaction to the slow recovery of oil production offshore and refineries on the coast in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina.

New York-traded shares of BG Group were down 1.7 percent to $46.87, Repsol YPF slipped 1.4 percent to $30.88, and Petrobras fell 1 percent to $63.24. Among retailers, Dutch company Ahold was down 9.2 percent to $8.14 after its second-quarter earnings report showed results below what had been expected. In the utilities sector, meanwhile, Spanish company Endsea fell by 0.8 percent to $25.54 when it said it would fight an unsolicited bid from rival Gas Natural.

Among gainers for the day was Japanese mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo Inc., which was up 2.3 percent to $17.58 on an increase in its earnings forecast from Credit Suisse First Boston. The index of leading European ADRs fell 0.3 percent to 134.30, while the index of leading Asian ADRs was down 0.2 percent to 117.68 and the index of leading Latin American ADRs gained 0.2 percent to 179.94.

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