walmart

Walmart Inc. finally gave the U.S. retail sector some good news. The company brushed off the industry’s disappointing December sales with its best holiday quarter in at least a decade, soothing concerns about the sector’s outlook for 2019. Comparable sales for Walmart stores in the United States — a key performance barometer — rose 4.2% in the quarter that included Christmas, beating analysts’ estimates by a full percentage point.

Amazon.com resurrected thousands of suspended product listings in India by selling much of its stake in top local venture partner Cloudtail, a hastily arranged deal intended to comply with stringent new e-commerce regulations that upended the market.

Walmart Inc. is making sweeping changes to its employment policies this month, granting paid sick leave to hourly workers in the United States, and, at the same time, possibly making it easier to fire those who miss too many shifts.

Walmart is raising trucker salaries in its push to hire 900 more drivers this year across the United States, including Texas, where it has a big concentration of large distribution centers where empty trucks get filled.