ADR Report-Foreign stocks fall, led by Mexico on flu fears
NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) - Overseas shares traded in the United States slid on Monday as mounting deaths linked to a new flu strain in Mexico stoked fears of a pandemic.
New York-traded shares of Mexican companies had their worst session in six months after Mexico said a new flu virus has killed up to 149 people and it ordered all schools to close across the country as the disease spread in the United States, Canada and Europe.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for caution regarding travel to Mexico, and the European Union also urged citizens to avoid nonessential travel to areas affected by swine flu. For details see [ID:nWAT011356]and [IDnBRU007381].
The flu outbreak will hurt the economy of Mexico because the country relies heavily on tourism, its third-biggest source of foreign currency.
The Bank of New York Mellon index of Mexican ADRs .BKMX plunged 7.5 percent, its worst daily percentage decline since late October. Top decliners included airport operators Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (PAC.N), down 17.1 percent at $19.98, and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (OMAB.O), down 14.8 percent at $7.50, and Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASR.N), down 14 percent at $31.00.
"Airports have been doing so poorly for so long and we didn't know when the recovery was going to happen, so this just makes matters worse," said from Brazil a New York-based Mexican ADRs analyst.
The Bank of New York Mellon's index of leading American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) .BKADR slid 2 percent while the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX shed 1 percent.
The Bank of New York Mellon's index of leading Latin American ADRs .BKLA tumbled 4.1 percent on Mexico's news. In Latin America, major local stock benchmarks fell. Mexico's IPC .MXX index fell 3.3 percent and Brazil's Bovespa .BVSP lost 2 percent.
The ADRs of Mexico's America Movil (AMX.N) tumbled 7.5 percent to $30.54 and LAN Airlines (LFL.N), headquartered in Santiago de Chile, plummeted 7.3 percent to $8.68.
The Bank of New York Mellon's index of leading European ADRs .BKEUR fell 1.6 percent. In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares rose 0.4 percent, lifted by drug makers on hopes of more vaccine demand.
The ADRs of British pharmaceuticals GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.N) and AstraZeneca (AZN.N) rose 7.6 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, while Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis (SNY.N) gained 1.6 percent to $27.23.
The Bank of New York Mellon's index of leading Asian ADRs .BKAS lost 2.1 percent. Overnight in Asia, stocks fell in major markets except Tokyo, where the Nikkei average .N225 rose 0.2 percent.
The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 1.75 percent. (Editing by Jan Paschal)
