By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S.-listed shares of foreigncompanies slumped on Monday, with the losses driven by weaknessin Europe, where political uncertainty spurred investors to takeprofits.
A corruption scandal in Spain and polls showing Italy'sformer prime minister Silvio Berlusconi regaining ground aheadof elections this month triggered fresh concern over thepotential hit to euro zone stability and growth.
While equities have been strong performers lately, recentlyclosing at multi-year highs, many investors continue to worryabout the global economy's growth prospects.
Bank stocks, which are closely tied to the pace of growth,were among the weakest performers on Monday. Barclays Plc dropped 2.9 percent to $18.34 while HSBC Holding was off 2 percent at $55.71. National Bank of Greece sank 4.4 percent to $1.53. The FTSEurofirst 300 indexof top shares skidded 1.4 percent.
The BNY Mellon index of leading European ADRs plunged 2.5 percent, the biggest daily drop for the index sinceJune 21, 2012. The fall far outpaced the 1.9 percent drop in theBNY Mellon index of leading American depositary receipts, which was off 1.9 percent. The S&P 500 fell 1 percent.
The BNY Mellon index of leading Asian ADRs fell 0.8percent. Shares in Hong Kong edged lower while Chinese stockshit multi-month highs.
Among Asian financials, Korea's KB Financial fell 1.4percent to $34.19 while Woori Finance was off 0.6 percentat $34.68.
The BNY Mellon index of leading Latin American ADRs fell 1.5 percent.
Among the most active ADRs, China's Sky-Mobi Ltd rose 1 percent to $1.97 after reporting earnings that beatexpectations.
South Africa's Harmony Gold Mining surged 8.2percent after reporting results and saying striking workers mayreturn to its Kusasalethu mine as early as next week.
Barclays (BARC)
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)