US retailers gloomy after weak housing market dents sales

· Talk of rate cut as growth slows to lowest since 2003
· Wal-Mart to lower price of toys before Christmas

Andrew Clark in New York and Angela Balakrishnan
Friday November 3, 2006
The Guardian

Fears are mounting of a dismal Christmas for America's shopping malls after a slew of poor trading updates from leading retailers including Wal-Mart, the clothes chain Gap and the discount store Target.

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, told Wall Street yesterday that its like-for-like sales rose by a modest 0.3% last month and that it expected its November figures to be "approximately flat". It intends to cut the price of toys and electronics to stimulate festive sales.