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

The BNY Mellon index of American depositary receipts rose 0.1% to 153.54. The European index dropped 0.01% to 138.81. The Asian index rose 0.4% to 185.98. The Latin American index decreased 0.1% to 276.16. And the emerging-markets index rose 0.4% to 347.46.

Prudential PLC (PUK), Cemex SAB de CV (CX) and Barclays PLC (BCS) were among those with ADRs that traded actively.

British insurer Prudential PLC has split its European and international arms into two new companies. The 170-year-old firm said Wednesday it will demerge M&G Prudential, its U.K. and European business, leaving investors with shares in two separately listed companies. Prudential--which isn't related to Prudential Financial Inc., a U.S. financial-services provider--will become a solely international firm, focused on the U.S., Asia and Africa, and will be led by current Chief Executive Mike Wells. M&G Prudential will focus on the retirement and savings business in the U.K. and Europe. ADRs of Prudential rose 5.6% to $53.99.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Mexico's Cemex SAB over payments made by the company related to a cement plant it is building in Colombia to determine whether they violated federal bribery laws. Cemex, one of the world's largest cement producers, said in a filing Monday that it had received a federal grand jury subpoena related to the project. The company in late 2016 previously had disclosed a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the payments, seeking information to determine whether the payments had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. A spokesman for the Monterrey-based company had declined to comment further. ADRs of Cemex dropped 1.6% to $7.21.

Barclays PLC has become a rare global bank to embrace the cryptocurrency sector by signing exchange operator Coinbase as a customer. Deposits from Coinbase users in the U.K. will be held in a new customer account at Barclays, Coinbase UK Chief Executive Zeeshan Feroz said Wednesday. Working with San Francisco-based Coinbase is a big stride for Barclays into a sector that many banks have shunned for being too risky. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies aren't backed or controlled by any government, and global regulators are still grappling with how to supervise trade in the currencies and related activities. A spokesman for Barclays had declined to comment, citing client confidentiality. ADRs of Barclays were down 1% to $11.65.

Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 14, 2018 18:04 ET (22:04 GMT)