RETAIL

WAL-MART SALES RISE, HELPED BY FOOD, GAS PURCHASES

Wal-Mart Stores said October same-store sales rose about 4.3%, beating its forecast, led by food three out of the four weeks this month and helped by gasoline purchases. The company had forecast a sales gain this month of 2% to 4% from a year ago at its American stores open at least 20 months. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart updated results through Saturday in a recorded call yesterday. Sales of general merchandise led the gain for the second time in 16 weeks.

– Bloomberg News

TRADE

CHINESE TRADE SURPLUS EXPECTED TO WIDEN TO $90B

China’s trade surplus will probably widen to $90 billion this year from $32 billion in 2004 because of surging exports from the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, clothes, and steel, the Ministry of Commerce said. Exports are likely to rise 20% this year to $745 billion, outpacing an expected 18% increase in imports to $655 billion, according to a research report commissioned by the commerce ministry. China’s swelling trade surplus has led to trade tensions as countries around the world impose quotas and tariffs on Chinese-made goods now flooding their markets. “China’s economic growth remains more reliant on trade than any other time since mid-1997,” a senior economist at Standard Chartered Bank, Stephen Green, said in a recent research report. “However, the greater contribution from net exports implies that China is becoming more vulnerable to the global economic cycle, especially the United States and its consumer spending.”

– Bloomberg News

ENERGY

OPEC SAYS DEMAND LAGS FOR EXTRA OIL

OPEC said there have been no buyers for the extra oil it began offering on October 1, when it effectively suspended its quota system for the first time since the 1990 Gulf War. “There have been no requests from clients to indicate that they need this additional spare capacity,” OPEC’s acting Secretary General, Adnan Shihab-Eldin, said yesterday in Rimini, Italy. The offer for extra oil is valid until December 31. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which pumps about a third of the world’s crude oil supplies, estimates its members can pump another 2 million barrels a day, enough to supply Britain, Europe’s second-largest economy.

– Bloomberg News

INVESTING

CITIGROUP UNIT TO PROHIBIT BROKER DISCRETION OVER CERTAIN TRADES

Citigroup’s Smith Barney unit plans to prohibit brokers from having discretion over commission-based trades in their customers’ accounts in a move to avoid potential legal and regulatory problems. The new policy, which a spokeswoman said was announced internally on Friday, will become effective early next year. She would not comment on how many of the company’s approximately 12,100 brokers have permission from clients to make trading decisions and receive commissions. However, only about 0.4% of customer assets are believed to be affected. The decision to curtail discretionary accounts will help the bank dodge potential violations of a new Securities and Exchange Commission rule that subjects brokers who have discretion over client accounts to the rigorous standards of the Investment Advisers Act.The new rule goes into effect on January 31, 2006.

– Dow Jones Newswires