ADR Report-China leads foreign U.S. shares down; oil weighs

By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Overseas shares traded in the United States fell on Monday after Shanghai's stock market plunged on fears that equities are overpriced and that China may not be in a position to lead the global economic recovery.

The benchmark Shanghai index .SSEC sank 6.7 percent Monday and closed the month down more than 21 percent, but the index is still up more than 46 percent for 2009. For details see [ID:nHKG349309].

New York-traded shares of China Petroleum & Chemical (SNP.N) slid 2.9 percent to $83.95, further hit by a decline of 3.8 percent in crude oil futures CLc1, which settled at $69.96 per barrel.

The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) .BKADR fell 1.2 percent, while the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX fell 0.8 percent.

The broad ADR index rose 3 percent in August, while the S&P 500 rose 3.4 percent for the month.

The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading Asian ADRs .BKAS fell 1.5 percent, hit by the Chinese slump.

ADRs of mobile carrier China Mobile Ltd (CHL.N) fell 2.1 percent to $49.22 and Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (ACH.N) lost 3.1 percent to $26.56. A Chinese ADR index .BKCN fell 2.3 percent.

Bucking the regional trend, ADRs of Japan's Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (NTT.N) shot up 3.3 percent to $22.20.

The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading European ADRs .BKEUR gave up 0.9 percent. In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares fell 0.7 percent after hitting a 10-month high on Friday.

Commodity prices fell globally and stocks of European miners and basic materials companies were among the most badly hit.

ADRs of metals company ArcelorMittal (MT.N) fell 3 percent while Tenaris (TS.N) lost 2.8 percent. Global miner BHP Billiton plc (BBL.N) shrank 2.9 percent to $52.22.

The Reuters/Jefferies CRB index of commodities .CRB plunged 1.6 percent.

The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading Latin American ADRs .BKLA sank 2.7 percent. In Latin America, major benchmarks were lower with Brazil's Bovespa .BVSP down more than 2 percent, weighed down by Petrobras.

ADRs of state-controlled Brazilian oil giant Petrobras (PBR.N) fell 4.4 percent to $39.64, hit by the plunge in crude prices and as a new legislative proposal for exploration of offshore subsalt oil reserves was set to be discussed by the Brazilian Congress. [ID:nN31334035] (Editing by James Dalgleish)