ADRs in Focus: Russian index rallies

An index of Russian ADRs spiked in Monday afternoon trading after Mechel Steel Group OAO changed the way it calculates its share ratio.

Moscow-based Mechel said Monday it changed its ADR-to-share ratio to one-to-one from one-to-three. ADR stands for American Depositary Receipt, which is a security designed to allow U.S. investors to trade shares of companies based overseas.

As part of move, Mechel gave each current shareholder two additional ADRs.

"Following standard market practice, we decided to increase liquidity of Mechel's securities and give investors the opportunity to operate in a more customary price range while managing their investment strategies," Chief Operating Officer Stanislav Ploschenko said in a release.

Mechel started trading as an ADR in October 2004 on the New York Stock Exchange. Its shares rose $1 to $169.99 in the afternoon session after hitting an all-time high of $175.99 earlier in the day.

The Bank of New York Russia ADR Index rose 95.76 points, or 4.7 percent, to 2,137.38.

Elsewhere on the Russia ADR index, shares of Mobile Telesystems OJSC gained $4.25, or 5.3 percent, to $84.50.

Shares of Rostelecom OAO added $1.47, or 2.2 percent, to $69.41 and shares of Vimpel-Communications jumped $1.65, or 4.9 percent, to $35.24.

Bucking the trend, shares of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC shed $2.68 to $132.30.

The Bank of New York Emerging Markets ADR Index _ which includes shares of companies based in Russia, Mexico, Brazil and more _ rose 3.68 points to 396.42. The Bank of New York Composite ADR Index gained 0.43 points to 189.28 as the U.S. markets were mixed in afternoon trading.