FINANCIAL SECTOR

Wall Street Has Worst Day in Four Months

Wall Street had its worst day in more than four months yesterday as the dollar weakened and concerns about the strength of the retail industry arose following a rare sales decline at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The Dow Jones industrials fell 158 points. Investors were uneasy after the dollar fell for the fifth straight day and after Wal-Mart reported a 0.1% drop in same-store sales. The dollar’s slide continued, hitting a 20-month low against the euro.

— Associated Press

Wal-Mart Moves To Tap Into Consumer-Loan Market in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — Wal-Mart, already Mexico’s largest retailer, is aiming to tap into the country’s booming consumer-loan market when it opens its own bank in the second half of next year, executives said yesterday. While its efforts to enter the banking business in America met opposition, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has benefited from Mexico’s efforts to open the financial services industry to low-income clients, a segment of the population largely ignored by Mexico’s large retail banks.

— Associated Press

TECHNOLOGY

Palm Cuts 2Q Forecast

Palm Inc. cut its second-quarter forecast, saying it is taking longer than anticipated to make its latest Treo device compatible with American wireless networks. The shares fell 7.3%. Revenue for the period ending December 1 will be $390 million to $395 million, down from a September forecast for sales of as much as $450 million, Palm said in a statement yesterday. Palm had banked on the American introduction of the Treo 750, which runs on Microsoft Corp.’s operating system, to boost sales in the current quarter.

— Bloomberg News

COMMODITIES

Crude Oil Rises Past $60

Crude oil rose above $60 a barrel on forecasts that most of America will be colder than normal next week and a report that Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said OPEC may cut output. Below-normal temperatures will cover most of America from December 2 through December 6, boosting heating demand, the National Weather Service said. Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said OPEC may agree to cut oil production for a second time in the fourth quarter at a meeting next month, Al-Hayat newspaper reported.

— Bloomberg News

IN THE COURTS

Court Refuses To Consider Reinstating Philip Morris Judgment

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday refused to consider reinstating a $10.1 billion tobacco judgment against Philip Morris Inc., a unit of Altria Group Inc. The Illinois Supreme Court threw out the judgment, issued by a state trial court in 2003, late last year in a class-action lawsuit over light and low-tar cigarettes. The Illinois high court ruled 4–2 that the state-level class-action lawsuit wasn’t allowed because Federal Trade Commission consent orders — settlements between the federal government and tobacco companies — have allowed tobacco companies to advertise light and low tar cigarette products.

— Dow Jones Newswires