By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - Overseas shares traded in the United States gained nearly 2 percent on Friday and posted gains for the second week in a row after upbeat results and news from various heavy-hitters ignited a broad-based stocks rally.

Bank stocks got a boost after the release of a widely-anticipated concept paper on stress tests for the 19 biggest U.S. financial services companies.

Meanwhile, quarterly results from companies including financial services giant American Express (AXP.N: Quote, Profile, Research), automaker Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research), oil services company Schlumberger Ltd (SLB.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and technology bellwether Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) showed some companies have weathered the recession so far and lifted sentiment. For details see [ID:nN24448427]

Among outstanding gainers were New York-traded shares of Deutsche Bank (DB.N: Quote, Profile, Research), up 4.6 percent, and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSb.N: Quote, Profile, Research), up 3.6 percent.

The Bank of New York Mellon's index of leading American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) advanced 1.94 percent while the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX gained 1.7 percent.

For the week, the ADR index rose 0.7 percent.

The Bank of New York Mellon's index of leading Asian ADRs rose 1.6 percent on Friday. Shares in major Asian markets were mixed, with small gains in Taiwan and Hong Kong countered by declines in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul. The MSCI index of Asian shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS edged up 0.4 percent.

ADRs of Papua New Guinean miner Lihir Gold (LIHR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) jumped 5.8 percent to $22.17, on par with other gold miners, after China revealed it had secretly raised its gold reserves by 75 percent since 2003, confirming speculation it had been buying in the market for some years. [ID:nPEK307477]