Reuters Business Summary

Wal-Mart July sales miss estimates

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: 行情) on Thursday reported a 3 percent rise in sales at U.S. stores open at least a year in July, slightly below Wall Street estimates. Analysts, on average, were expecting the company's same-store sales to increase 3.4 percent, according to Thomson Reuters Estimates, while the company had forecast a gain of 2 percent to 4 percent.

McDonald's says more product price rises possible

BEIJING (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp (MCD.N: 行情) said on Thursday it was considering further price increases, but would do nothing that slowed customer traffic into its global network of stores. The world's largest restaurant chain posted second-quarter profit that beat expectations on strong international sales, but said to offset mounting commodity pressures it was looking at changes to the popular Dollar Menu, which lures value diners.

Chrysler, Nissan in talks to make midsize cars: report

(Reuters) - Chrysler LLC is in talks with Japan's Nissan Motor Co (7201.T: 行情) (NSANY.O: 行情) about jointly producing midsize cars, a partnership that would move the U.S. auto maker toward a radical new business model, the Wall Street Journal said Thursday. In April, Chrysler and Nissan entered a deal under which Nissan would build a small car for Chrysler using the North American automaker's design and Chrysler would build a new full-sized pickup truck for the Japanese automaker using Nissan's plans.

Futures fall on Wal-Mart sales miss

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures extended losses on Thursday after Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: 行情) the world's largest retailer, posted July same-store sales that fell short of Wall Street's forecasts, adding to concerns about consumer spending. S&P 500 futures slipped 5.90 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Toyota Q1 drops, keeps outlook amid U.S. slump

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: 行情), the world's biggest automaker, posted a 28 percent drop in quarterly net profit, dented by a strong yen and slumping U.S. sales, and kept its forecasts unchanged for what is set to be its most challenging year in recent memory. "The environment surrounding our business has taken a sharp turn for the worse, leading to a very tough first quarter," Executive Vice President Mitsuo Kinoshita told a news conference. "It will be crucial for us to act quickly and flexibly to overcome this."

HSBC denies new deadline for $6.3 billion KEB deal

SEOUL/HONG KONG (Reuters) - HSBC Holdings (HSBA.L: 行情) (0005.HK: 行情) on Thursday denied a South Korean media report saying it had agreed with U.S. private equity firm Lone Star LS.UL to set a new deadline for a $6.3 billion deal for control of Korea Exchange Bank. "We have not created a deadline," HSBC spokesman David Hall said.

Warner Music quarterly loss narrows