RETAIL

More companies are hopping on the NFC contact-less bandwagon.

Victoria's Secret parent Limited Brands Inc and warehouse club operator Costco Wholesale Corp were some of the bright spots among retailers that reported January sales on Thursday.

Eurozone retail sales fell unexpectedly for a second consecutive month in December last year, showing continued weakness in the household demand.

British telecommunications company BT Group plc reported its highest share of DSL broadband net additions for eight years and said pretax profit for the third quarter more than doubled from last year.

ThinkEquity has outlined its top consumer stock picks for 2011. The stocks include: Life Time Fitness, PetSmart, Williams-Sonoma, Coach, and Advance Auto Parts.

Retailers will shed light on the impact of inclement weather on their initial spring sales when they report figures for January on Thursday.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has ordered utilities to rotate outages across the state. The underlying cause is a shortage of electricity as many utility plants tripped (shut off power) due to extreme weather.

The company posted a net loss in revenue of $322 million, up from year-on-year losses of $82 million.

Apple Inc. said its CDMA iPhone 4 will be available for pre-orders from Thursday at Apple stores and Verizon Wireless. Apple said orders will be fulfilled on a first come, first served basis due to strong demand.

Sixty-nine per cent of investors say Facebook is overvalued after Goldman Sachs invested $450 million in a deal that valued the company at $50 billion, according to the quarterly poll of 1,000 Bloomberg customers who are investors, traders or analysts.

British carpet and floor covering retailer Carpetright Plc said it expects full-year profits to be below last year and below market expectations, citing lower third quarter sales due to adverse weather conditions and fragile consumer confidence.

American car owners gave a confidence boost to auto manufacturers, as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and Toyota posted double digit gains in January US auto sales.

The new tablet from Dell can connect to T-Mobile’s HSPA+4G network that surely is going to give stiff competition to Samsung Galaxy Tab’s 4G LTE tablet.

Joblessness in Germany fell more than expected in January to leave the unemployment rate at its lowest level since March 1992, data showed, fuelling hopes that consumer spending will help underpin the country's economic

Retailers are poised to show only a modest rise in January sales as record snow in many parts of the United States kept shoppers away from malls and crimped demand for early spring merchandise.

German retail sales fell unexpectedly in December 2010, posting a decline for a second consecutive month, the Federal Statistics Office said on Monday.

A job posting offers clues that Apple may include a near-field communications chip in the next iPhone and iPad for contactless payments.

Sara Lee Corp plans to split into two separate public companies focusing on North American meats and international coffee after takeover bids it received were not enough to entice it to sell the company.

Retail sales in debt-stricken Spain fell sharply in December 2010, recording a decline in sales for the sixth consecutive month.

A battle between large supermarket operators to tap into Southeast Asia's growing consumer wealth could trigger more acquisitions, with Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines seen as the next hot spots.

Pay-TV firm British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) reported record product sales and strong double-digit growth in profit and revenue for the first half. The company, which lifted its interim dividend by 11 percent to 8.74 pence, said the business has achieved milestone of 10 million customers and total net product growth was 2.193 million.