Consumer

Debenhams, Next Gain as Retailers' Profit Resists Falling Christmas Sales Debenhams Plc and Next Plc led gains by U.K. retail stocks today after the store owners said profit withstood declining sales over the Christmas holiday.

U.S. Retail Sales Fell 0.8% in Week After Christmas, Industry Group Says Purchases at U.S. retailers declined last week as post-Christmas markdowns failed to overcome what may have been the worst holiday shopping season in four decades.

Tesco Plans to Reduce Prices by $146 Million, Responding to Asda Discounts Tesco Plc, the U.K.’s biggest supermarket chain, said it’s cutting prices by 100 million pounds ($146 million) after competitor Asda announced discounts on more than 1,000 products less than a week ago.

Toyota, Honda U.S. Sales Slump Ends Annual Growth Dating From Mid-1990s Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. said U.S. sales plummeted by more than a third in December as the recession and weak consumer confidence ended annual gains for Japan’s two largest automakers dating to the mid-1990s.

Danone, Chinese Partner Wahaha Take Battle of `Laughing Child' to Sweden Groupe Danone SA, the world’s biggest yogurt maker, and Chinese partner Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co. began a hearing this week in Stockholm to decide who owns the $2.4 billion brand Wahaha, which means “Laughing Child.”

Kennedy Wants Cigarette Risks Regulated, Expects Obama to Back Legislation The U.S. Food and Drug Administration would have the power to regulate tobacco under legislation that Senator Edward Kennedy will introduce.