US STOCKS-Anglogold Ashanti shares drop 16 pct; miners weigh on ADR index

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - U.S.-listed shares of South African gold (CDNX: AGG.V - news) miner AngloGold Ashanti Ltd (LSE: AGD.L - news) were among the biggest percentage decliners on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday after it announced a $2.1 billion rights issue and plans to spin off its non-South African assets in a new British-based company.

The stock was down 16 percent and was on track for its biggest daily percentage decline since 2008.

Shares (Frankfurt: DI6.F - news) of other overseas producers were lower as well, including South Africa's Gold Fields (Xetra: 862484 - news) , down 3.5 percent. Shares of Brazilian miner Vale was down 1.9 percent while shares of BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) were down 0.9 percent.

The declines were weighing on the broader ADR market. The BNY Mellon index of leading ADRs was down 0.1 percent.

Index snapshot at 11:37 EDT:

* S&P 500 up 0.54 points, or 0.03 percent.

* Nasdaq Comp up 10.34 points, or 0.23 percent.

* Dow industrials up 12.14 points, or 0.07 percent.

* Russell 2000 down 0.86 points, or 0.07 percent.

* S&P MidCap down 3.3 points, or 0.23 percent.

* S&P SmallCap off 1.23 points, or 0.19 percent. (Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)