ADR Report-ADRs flat as mergers offset BOJ worries

Toyota Canada expects higher vehicle sales in '07

ADR Report-Bernanke spurs rally, Chrysler, Toyota up

Mr. Fujio Cho has been serving as Chairman of the Board and Representative Director of Toyota Motor Corporation since June 2006. He joined the Company... Full Bio

NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Overseas shares traded in the United States were little changed on Tuesday as optimism over a fresh round of mergers and acquisition offset some investor wariness before a Bank of Japan decision on interest rates.

The Bank of New York's index of leading ADRs .BKADR was up 0.2 percent while the 30-share Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 0.2 percent at 12,789.04.

The U.S.-listed shares of Britain's Shire Pharmaceuticals (SHPGY.O: Quote , Profile , Research ) rose 5.4 percent to $66.69 after the company agreed to buy U.S. partner New River Pharmaceuticals (NRPH.O: Quote , Profile , Research ) for $2.6 billion to gain full control of the two firms' new drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Vyvanse.

Shares of British building materials firm Hanson (HAN.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) climbed 4 percent to $82.06 on the New York Stock Exchange after U.S. firm Vulcan Materials (VMC.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) said it would acquire Florida Rock Industries (FRK.N: Quote , Profile , Research ).

...

The Bank of New York's index of leading European ADRs .BKEUR was up 0.2 percent.

Among other European companies Irish drugmaker Elan (ELN.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) posted a fourth-quarter net loss, hurt by the cost of relaunching its Tysabri multiple sclerosis treatment. The company's shares fell 3.1 percent to $14.35.

Shares of Norwegian energy and aluminium group Norsk Hydro (NHY.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) slid 1.5 percent to $31.65 as the company's chief executive said he expects some near-term weakness in UK gas prices.

Investors were also hesitant to take big positions as the Bank of Japan is set to release its decision on interest rates after debate at its policy board meeting, which ends on Wednesday. Investors say it is still a close call as to whether the central bank will raise interest rates.

Shares of Japanese companies barely budged. Shares of Sony Corp. (SNE.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) slipped 0.1 percent to $52.49, while shares of Toyota Motor (TM.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) edged down 0.3 percent to $136.75.

By contrast, in Tokyo trading Japan's broadest stock index had hit a 15-year peak before ending marginally higher after several steel and auto industry deals.

The Bank of New York's index of leading Asian ADRs .BKAS was up 0.3 percent.

...

Source: [url=http://today.reuters.com/stocks/QuoteCompanyNewsArticle.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2007-02-20T201811Z_01_N20185821_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-STOCKS-ADRS.XML&rpc=66]Reuters[/url]