ADRs in Focus: Israel index dips after Teva report

The Bank of New York Mellon Israel ADR Index lost 27.54 points, or 8.5 percent, to 297.98 in the afternoon session. ADR stands for American Depositary Receipt, which is a security designed to allow U.S. investors to trade shares of companies based overseas.

Of the six companies on the bank's Israel ADR list, only Teva shares fell.

Teva said Monday that data from a late-stage study on the drug Copaxone showed that a 40-mg dose of the drug is no more effective than a 20-mg dose.

Teva's ADR fell $4.44, or 9.4 percent, to $42.76. Trading was especially heavy, with more than 20 million shares trading hands, compared with the average daily trading volume of about 5.3 million.

Elsewhere on the ADR index, shares of XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. rose 2 cents to $3.42; shares of supermarket operator Blue Square Israel Ltd. gained 43 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $11.34; and shares of data recording company Nice Systems Ltd. added 21 cents to $28.26.

Shares of Partner Communications Co. rose 12 cents to $23.67 and shares of information technology company Formula Systems (1985) Ltd. gained 58 cents, or 5.7 percent, to $10.82.

The Bank of New York Mellon Emerging Markets ADR Index--which includes shares of companies based in Israel, Mexico, Brazil and more--lost 2.93 points to 328.93.

The Bank of New York Composite ADR Index fell 1.96 points to 161.94 as the U.S. markets fell in afternoon trading.