CINCINNATI – The Kroger Co.’s profit fell 27 percent in the fourth quarter, even as sales rose with a boost from the grocer’s gasoline incentives for regular customers.

The nation’s largest traditional grocery chain Tuesday reported profit of $255.4 million, or 39 cents per share, down from $349.2 million or 53 cents, a year ago.

Sales rose 7 percent to $18.6 billion. Excluding fuel, sales were up 2 percent.

Analysts expected 34 cents per share on $17 cash advance america.73 billion of revenue.

In the heated competition for recession-strapped households, Kroger has expanded discounts at its gas stations for regular customers, who can get at least 10 cents off a gallon for every $100 in grocery store purchases.

Kroger 4Q profit down 27 percent

SEOUL (AFP) – South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor said Wednesday it would recall its flagship Sonata sedan in the United States and the domestic market due to a door lock problem.

The firm said in a statement that 1,300 Sonata sedans already sold in the United States and another 46,000 cars in South Korea would be recalled.

Hyundai said the move was in response to reported defective front-door locks on some of its modified Sonatas launched last September high quality business cards. It said it ordered its US dealers on Tuesday to stop selling the model.

The recall was announced on the same day that Toyota's top US executive admitted that global recalls by the Japanese giant had "not totally" fixed dangerous safety flaws.

Hyundai to recall Sonata sedan in US and S.Korea

LONDON – European stock markets won some respite Monday ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels, where the Greek debt crisis will likely top the agenda. However, public holidays in many Asian countries as well as the U.S. have reined in some of the volatility that gripped markets over the last couple of weeks.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 34.48 points, or 0.7 percent, at 5,176.93 while Germany’s DAX rose 34.26 points, or 0.6 percent, at 5,534.65. The CAC-40 in France was 26.54 points, or 0.7 percent, higher at 3,625.61.

The main point of interest for Europe’s markets will continue to be the debt problems afflicting Greece, as finance ministers from the 16 euro countries gather in the wake of last Thursday’s meeting of EU leaders. On Tuesday, the finance ministers of the full 27-nation European Union meet.

Though EU leaders gave Greece some vocal support, no money or guarantee was offered, primarily because Germany was not willing to stump up any cash as it could undermine German bonds and put further pressure on the euro.

Instead, all agreed that Greece’s progress in bringing down its budget deficit will be closely monitored and it would not be allowed to threaten the eurozone. Markets interpreted the latter comment as an implicit guarantee that eurozone policymakers will help the country if its own efforts fail.

An ensuing narrowing in spreads between German and Greek bonds — a sign that the markets think a Greek default is becoming less likely — and a more steady tone to the euro have diminished expectations that anything substantially new will emerge later.

“Risk aversion remains in vogue, though the resilience of equity markets suggests we are seeing nervousness more than outright fear and I sense the dollar’s rally may therefore be losing momentum,” said Kit Juckes, chief economist at ECU Group.

By mid afternoon London time, the euro was unchanged at $1.3610. Last week, at the height of the Greek fiscal concerns, the euro had slid to a nine-month low of $1.3533.

Besides Greece, investors have fretted about the public finances in Spain, Portugal and Ireland easy fast payday loans.

Dubai is also a growing concern amid fears that the highly indebted emirate may repay creditors less than the amounts due — it was November’s debt postponement from Dubai World, a government investment company with around $59 billion in debts, that stoked the markets’ concerns about overborrowed countries.

Dubai’s stock market fell sharply while the cost of insuring against the emirate’s debts edged back up.

“The theme of sovereign debt risk is likely to remain on investors’ agenda as fresh rumblings in Dubai make clear,” said Neil Mackinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital.

Earlier, much of Asia was closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Seoul.

However, Japanese and Australian markets fell as investors reacted to China’s move late Friday to curtail bank lending to cool off strong growth there.

Better-than-expected Japanese fourth quarter economic growth figures failed to lift Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which slid 78.89 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 10,013.30. Analysts said that the monetary tightening in China — the second such move in a month — and uncertainty about the economic outlook in coming quarters weighed on sentiment.

Japan’s gross domestic product grew at an annual pace of 4.6 percent in the October-December period, keeping Japan just ahead of China as the world’s No. 2 economy. Japan’s nominal GDP for the 2009 calendar year came to about $5.1 trillion, ahead of China’s $4.9 trillion.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell 16.6 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,545.5.

Wall Street is closed for the Presidents Day holiday.

Elsewhere, oil prices were flat, with benchmark crude for March delivery down 1 cent to $74.12 a barrel.

____

Associated Press Writer Malcolm Foster in Tokyo contributed to this report.

European markets edge up despite Greek debt fears

BRUSSELS – European Union leaders on Thursday offered Greece moral support but no money to help it weather a debt crisis — vague assurances that didn’t calm the market fear that has shaken the entire EU and undermined the shared euro currency.

The 16 countries that use the euro said only that they “will take determined and coordinated action, if needed, to safeguard financial stability in the euro as a whole.”

But no money or loan guarantees were put on the table in the statement from a summit meeting in Brussels.

Markets appeared disappointed at not seeing a concrete backstop to ward off a potential default by Greece, which needs to borrow euro54 billion this year to cover its outsized budget deficit.

The Greek crisis is the leading edge of the debt troubles that have hit governments in the developed world during the world’s three years of economic turbulence, as they run up deficits bailing out banks and stimulating their economies.

A default would be a serious blow to Europe’s monetary union, and fears that Athens might not be able to pay its debts have already led markets demanding higher borrowing costs for Greece.

There are also concerns that the contagion could spread to other financially wobbly countries, such as Portugal and Spain, and that other governments will have to pay more to borrow.

The leaders said Greece had not requested financial support and called on Athens to push through “in a rigorous and determined manner” its budget cuts that have already triggered protests and strikes — and to prepare bigger cuts if needed.

Neil Mackinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital said, “it just looks like a pledge of solidarity, but no actual details of a program which is why the euro is still in the doldrums.”

“They have to stop this right now…they are firefighting at the moment but they need to put out this fire right now,” said Neil Mellor, currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon. “It won’t appease those looking for a bona fide rescue plan.”

The euro hit a new nine-month low of $1.3635, having been as high as $1.38 earlier in the day on hopes of more substantive Greek bailout news. It was $1.51 in December. German and French stocks were down, while shares in Britain, which doesn’t use the euro, rose.

Markets see Greece at risk of defaulting on its massive borrowings because it faces several years of sluggish growth and mounting debt that current austerity plans may not be able to stem payday loans guaranteed no fax.

Those fiscal problems have also exposed the vulnerability of Europe’s monetary union in times of crisis. Euro members countries agree to limit their budget deficits to 3 percent of gross domestic output because overspending can undermine their shared currency. But those deficit rules have been broken repeatedly and have not been prevented Greece and other countries from trouble.

The leaders may make more comments on Greece later in the day.

Luxembourg government spokesman Guy Schuller said no firm bailout figures are on the table at this point, but many options are under discussion. “Paris and Berlin are at the head” of efforts that would be shared by all 16 eurozone nations, he said.

Among possibilities for Greece that have been floated in recent days are EU member countries guaranteeing Greece’s debt, a special credit line for the Greek government, and bilateral loans.

But German Chancellor Angela Merkel talked down a full financial bailout, but said other European governments would not leave Greece in the lurch.

“We won’t let Greece be alone but there are rules and they have to be respected and based on that we’ll issue a statement and an explanation,” she said.

Greece needs to borrow euro54 billion (nearly $75 billion) from bond markets this year to plug its budget gap. So far it has been able to borrow from markets but is facing increasing interest costs as markets price in higher risk of a possible default.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has promised to reduce Greece’s deficit to 8.7 percent of gross domestic product this year, from 12.7 percent last year, the highest in the EU and four times above an EU limit.

But markets doubt Greece’s credibility after it admitted falsifying statistics for years to make the deficit look smaller. They also worry that Greece can’t carry out any cuts because it risks social unrest.

Greek workers shut down schools, grounded flights and walked out of hospitals Wednesday to protest austerity measures, and a much broader strike is planned for Feb. 24.

___

Associated Press writers Pan Pylas, Angela Charlton and Leslie Patton in Brussels contributed to this report.

EU leaders offer Greece support, but no money

OSLO – Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor ASA on Wednesday reported a 25 percent jump in fourth-quarter profits, primarily thanks to growth in Asia, but said it may have to cut costs this year to strengthen its finances.

Net profit rose to 2.5 billion kroner ($425 million) in the October-December period, from just under 2 billion kroner a year earlier. Revenues slipped to 24.2 billion kroner during that time, from 25.9 billion kroner in the fourth quarter of 2008. That excludes pro forma figures from Telenor’s troubled Ukrainian holding Kyivstar that were also provided for comparative reasons.

Telenor shares dropped 3 percent, to 75.85 kroner ($12.84), in morning trading in Oslo.

A strong quarter for Telenor in the Pakistani, Thai and Bangladeshi markets, as well as in the company’s consistently strong Scandinavian operations, contributed to a sustained revenue stream.

New subscriptions in these markets offset slumping revenues from Telenor’s operations in Eastern Europe, where the global financial crunch has depressed the telecoms market. Telenor subscriptions grew by 2 million in the fourth quarter.

Carnegie analyst Espen Torgersen said the result was “substantially over market expectation free credit scores.” He attributed the negative market reaction to Telenor’s lower-than-expected outlook for 2010.

Telenor CEO Jon Fredrik Baksaas warned of potential cost-cutting measures in 2010 to cope with hits to the group’s finances in the wake of the financial crisis.

Telenor “will strive to secure our market positions, while capturing organic growth opportunities. We will continue to implement necessary efficiency measures and provide innovative and viable solutions to our customers,” Baksaas said.

Among its priorities in 2010 are the expansion of its Indian subsidiary, which launched on Dec. 22, and the end of a long and expensive legal battle with Russian conglomerate Alfa Group over joint operations in Russia and Ukraine.

Telenor employs more than 40,000 people in 14 countries and claims 174 million subscribers worldwide.

___

On the Net:

http://www.telenor.com

Norway’s Telenor posts 25 pct rise in Q4 profits

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The dollar advanced Thursday, while the euro fell to a seven-month low and the Japanese yen attracted some buyers, amid renewed fears about fiscal problems facing a handful of European countries and as a U.S. report showed an unexpected increased in jobless claims last week.

The dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 79.950 from 79.369 late Wednesday.

ECB’s Trichet Sees Major Challenges Ahead

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet told reporters Thursday the euro zone still faces major challenges but is heading in the right direction. He was speaking shortly after the ECB kept interest rates steady.

For its part, the euro tumbled on renewed fears over debt problems in the 16-nation euro zone, and as the European Central Bank kept a key benchmark rate steady.

The single currency declined 1% to $1.3736, down from $1.3906 in North American trading late Wednesday.

The British pound also fell after the Bank of England kept rates steady, down 0.3% to $1.5851.

But the dollar lost ground to trade at 88.65 Japanese yen, down from 91.01 yen late Wednesday. The yen’s a frequent beneficiary of movements out of riskier assets to a more stable one.

The euro enjoyed a short-lived respite from pressure Wednesday after the European Commission cautiously endorsed Greece’s plans to slash its budget deficit over the next three years. But the selling pressure resurfaced as the focus turned to Portugal and Spain.

‘We’re short-term bearish on the euro.’

Ray Farris, Credit Suisse

The spread between government bonds issued by Greece and Portugal widened versus comparable German bunds, highlighting worries about the fiscal outlook for nations on the so-called periphery of the euro zone. Concerns over those countries also pushed the cost of insurance for sovereign debt above the cost for U.S. companies for the first time payday advance. Read about the euro zone’s persistent credit worries.

“Over the next several months, we’ll probably have a succession of negative news associated the fiscal stress coming, first with Greece but increasingly into other sovereigns,” said Ray Farris, head of foreign-exchange strategy at Credit Suisse. “We’re short-term bearish on the euro.”

S&P 500 (1 YEAR)

• Market Snapshot: U.S. stocks in focus • Today’s biggest advancing, declining stocks • Sign up for free, breaking-news email alerts • Technology stocks | Energy stocks • Metals stocks | Retail stocks • Financials | Airline stocks | Pharma and Biotech • Bond Report | Oil News | EarningsWatch • Currencies | Market Data | Economic Calendar • See all the latest markets video

Those concerns also weighed down U.S. stocks, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropping nearly 2.5%. While less consistent in recent months, since the beginning of the credit crisis the dollar has tended to benefit when stocks fall, which traders take as a flight from risky assets to the relative safety of the U.S. currency.

That dynamic was overshadowing weak employment data in the U.S. during the session — one day before the government’s pivotal report on nonfarm payrolls for January, due out Friday.

The Labor Department said first-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since mid-December, up 8,000 to 480,000. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists had been for claims to drop to 455,000. See more on U.S. jobless claims.

Also affecting trading in the British pound, Bank of England policy makers called a halt to its 200 billion pound ($319 billion) program of asset purchases but left the door open to resume purchases if it’s deemed necessary.

Currencies: Dollar up to 7-month high as risks seen in Europe

Hot News: Toyota posts $1.7B profit, raises annual forecast

TOKYO – Japan’s trade minister is urging Toyota Motor Corp. to secure the confidence of car buyers in the wake of massive global recalls.

“The scale of the recalls is huge. The situation is serious. It points to the possible dangers a global economy can bring,” Trade Minister Masayuki Naoshima told reporters Friday.

“I would like Toyota to respond properly to secure consumer confidence.”

Toyota — the world’s largest automaker — has recalled 7 payday loans.65 million vehicles in the U.S. over problems with gas pedals and floor mats. It recalled 75,500 vehicles in China for the same acceleration pedal problem.

The auto giant also said it would recall vehicles in Europe due to the accelerator problem, but said the number of recalled vehicles has yet to be determined.

Japan urges Toyota to secure consumer confidence

WASHINGTON — Top Republicans on Wednesday were hostile toward President Obama’s plan to create a bipartisan commission on cutting projected deficits, raising doubts about the prospects of a main piece of his budget strategy.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader in the Senate, was evasive when pressed by reporters at the Capitol. “I’m not going to decide today what we’re going to do in the future,” he said. But the House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, seemed to suggest that Republicans might not take their allotted seats on a commission.

“This sounds like political cover for Washington Democrats who are starting to realize that their out-of-control spending is scaring the hell out of the American people,” Mr. Boehner said of the tentative deal between the White House and Congressional Democratic leaders on Tuesday night.

Under that plan, Mr. Obama would establish by executive order an 18-member bipartisan panel to propose how to balance future tax revenue and entitlement program benefits. The group’s recommendations would be due by Dec. 1 — after the November elections. Then Congressional leaders would put the package to a vote.

Democrats expected that Mr. McConnell and Mr. Boehner would not be supportive given their party’s general opposition to raising taxes and to compromising with Mr. Obama. But Democrats figured that ultimately Republicans would be hard pressed to reject the president’s overture to help reduce the debt, since most of it results from tax and spending policies enacted in recent years, when Republicans controlled the White House and Congress.

The Democrats’ calculations on that and more were upended on Tuesday, when Republicans were emboldened after capturing a Massachusetts Senate seat.

Even two Republicans who have sponsored legislation with Democrats for a bipartisan budget commission — Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the senior Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, and Representative Frank R. Wolf of Virginia — were quick to oppose a presidential commission.

Mr. Gregg called the idea “a nothing-burger,” and Mr no fax cash advance. Wolf criticized it as “a back-room deal.” They objected that an executive order, unlike a law, could not mandate that Congress vote on the recommendations quickly and without amendments.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have pledged to hold a vote. On Wednesday, however, some moderate Senate Democrats were still awaiting “written assurances” from the speaker of the House, Representative Nancy Pelosi, according to Senator Kent Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota who is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was Mr. Gregg’s co-sponsor of a bill to establish a budget commission.

Under the Democrats’ plan, the Senate would vote first on any recommendations from a commission. The House would vote only if senators approved the package.

Though details were in flux, Mr. Obama’s executive order would designate a panel with 10 Democratic members and eight Republicans. Twelve of them would be chosen by the House and Senate leaders of both parties, with each naming three lawmakers. The president would name six people, four Democrats and two Republicans.

The deal on a commission is intended to clear the way for Congress to vote, perhaps on Thursday in the Senate, to raise the $12.4 trillion debt limit enough to allow the government to continue borrowing to pay for its operations through this year.

Also as part of the agreement, Democratic senators are to drop their opposition to a House-passed bill for a so-called pay-go law, which would require that most new spending and tax cuts would have to be offset by tax increases or spending cuts, to avoid adding to the debt.

“We’ve got to get back to fiscal responsibility,” said Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the House Democratic leader.

“Of course,” he added, “the key is going to be whether or not Republicans — both in terms of their appointment of people to the commission and cooperation with the statutory pay-go effort — will cooperate.”

Republicans Oppose Obama Deficit Panel

Stocks markets have spent much of the new year trading within narrow ranges — without the dramatic moves that had become common. During their meanderings, the markets have managed to push higher for the year — most major exchangers are up at least 1.5 percent.

Thursday’s trading indicated another day of much of the same. Markets in Europe were mixed Thursday as the European Central Bank kept rates unchanged at its meeting.

European markets, which had been higher, turned down after the latest report out of Washington showed that retail sales declined 0.3 percent, much weaker than the 0.5 percent rise that economists had been expecting. In addition, the first-time jobless filings rose last week, but the increase did not disrupt the longer-term downward trend in claims.

In London, the FTSE 100 was up 5.68 points, or 0.2 percent, while the DAX in Frankfurt and the CAC-40 in Paris were flat.

Wall Street also looked to open lower.

After the meeting, the European Central Bank president, Jean-Claude Trichet, dismissed speculation that Greece may leave the euro, saying he would not comment on “absurd hypotheses.”

Mr. Trichet was asked about Greece’s troubles at a news conference after the bank kept its main refinancing rate unchanged at a historic low of 1 percent at Thursday’s meeting.

Greece’s budget crisis, with a deficit of 12 percent of gross domestic product, has shocked markets and shaken the European Union.

He said Greece and other countries with outsize deficits had to “implement appropriate and bold measures” to get their deficits in line with rules intended to support the euro currency.

Earlier in Asia, stocks rallied amid receding worries about credit-tightening in China and Australia’s economic recovery showed new momentum business

Filed at 7:32 p.m. ET

TOKYO, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Shares of Japan Airlines Corp <9205.T> jumped 30 percent, bouncing back from last week’s tumble after the government sought to boost the amount of funds available to the struggling carrier.

Shares of JAL were up 29.9 percent at 87 yen as of 0024 GMT after surging as high as 93 yen. The stock lost a quarter of its value on Wednesday, the last trading day of 2009, on expectations it would face bankruptcy as part of a state restructuring plan. [ID:nTOE5BT00R]

The state-owned Development Bank of Japan said the government had asked it to double its credit line for JAL to 200 billion yen ($2.15 billion) to provide it with funding while a state-backed turnaround fund decides whether to bail out the airline my credit score.

A spokesman for the DBJ said the bank was considering the government’s request.

The government-backed turnaround fund has told JAL’s main creditors it was leaning towards a bankruptcy proceeding as part of a rescue package for Asia’s largest carrier by revenue, sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters.

The fund is expected to make a decision whether to support JAL this month.

A bankruptcy could wipe out the value of JAL’s shares and trigger greater losses for creditors, which include the DBJ and the country’s three largest private banks.

Shares of Japan Airlines Corp Jump 30 Percent