ADRs Close Mostly Lower; Eni Traded Actively

December 01, 2021 at 06:59 pm EST

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

The S&P/BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts eased 0.2% to 155.02. The European index eased 0.1% to 138.30. The Asian index declined 0.3% to 207.64. And the Latin American index declined 0.7% to 169.98.

Meanwhile, the emerging-markets index edged up 0.1% to 341.92.

Eni SpA was among those whose ADRs traded actively.

Italian oil-and-gas company Eni SpA unveiled plans for its retail-and-renewable unit called Plenitude ahead of the planned listing of up to 30% of the business, and is also weighing up an IPO for Var Energy--both listings could boost investor returns, Berenberg says. The listings could unlock some hidden value in Eni depending on two key factors, the bank says. "The first factor is whether the new businesses command the multiples of standalone peers or whether the market will value them at a discount," it says. "The second key factor will be whether the market will give full credit in Eni shares for the sum-of-the-parts valuation." Berenberg upgrades Eni to buy from hold. ADRs closed down 0.04% at $26.38.

The controversial variable interest entity, or VIE, structure used by many Chinese companies listed in the U.S. may be under greater scrutiny by both U.S. and Chinese regulators, and that could mean trouble for U.S.-listed Chinese stocks, Barron's reported. On Wednesday, Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Beijing is discussing plans to ban companies from going public abroad through the VIE structure, though companies could still possibly use the structure in Hong Kong with regulatory approval. Existing VIEs may have to provide more transparency, according to the report. Beijing's crackdown on Chinese companies and tighter control around data has also paved the way for a rethink of the VIE structure. Chinese regulators asked DiDi Global Inc. to delist from U.S. markets, potentially by going private or listing in Hong Kong and then delisting. Large Chinese companies like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. have already sought secondary listings closer to home in Hong Kong, and Beijing is likely to nudge more companies to follow--if nothing else, to get ahead of SEC's plans to delist Chinese companies not in compliance with U.S. auditing standards, as well as to tighten its control over data. DiDi's ADRs closed 2.4% higher at $7.81; Alibaba fell 4% to $122.49; and JD.com rose 1.3% to $85.18.