By Rodrigo Campos

NEW YORK, June 25 (Reuters) - Overseas shares traded in the United States rose on Thursday as Wall Street rallied after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke weathered a congressional hearing relatively unscathed.

The U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee questioned Bernanke on the Fed's role in Bank of America's takeover of Merrill Lynch, and whether he pressured BofA's CEO Ken Lewis to go through with the deal after Lewis raised objections. For details see [ID:nN25267831]

The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) rose 1.56 percent while the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX jumped 2.14 percent.

The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading Asian ADRs added 2.4 percent. Chinese ADRs gained 2.1 percent but China Petroleum (Sinopec) (SNP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) edged up just 0.25 percent after it bid $7 billion to acquire Addax Petroleum, roughly 4 times the Canadian company's value last November.

The MSCI index of Asian stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 1.1 percent and overnight in Asia shares ended broadly higher.

Latin American ADRs jumped 3.6 percent. Major regional benchmarks followed Wall Street's rise, with Brazil's Bovespa index .BVSPup 3.7 percent.

ADRs of energy company Petrobras (PBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shot up 3.8 percent to $40.36 boosted in part by a rise in crude oil futures CLc1, which added 2.3 percent to settle above $70 for the first time in 5 sessions.

The Bank of New York Mellon index of European ADRs edged up 0.9 percent as meager gains in energy companies and a decline in some pharmaceuticals overshadowed a broader advance in other sectors.