Business news digest

NATION

Treasury program to aid nine large financial groups

NEW YORK — A number of financial institutions, including KeyCorp and Huntington Banchares, have announced they will receive funds under the Treasury Department’s capital purchase program.

But what started as an effort by the federal government to spur lending has transfigured, some analysts contend, to a much more grandiose undertaking that will essentially weed out the weak banks from the strong.

As part of its $700 billion financial rescue package passed in September, the government announced plans earlier this month to pour $125 billion through stock purchases into nine large financial companies: JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. (including Merrill Lynch & Co.), Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and State Street Corp. Another $125 billion is now being made available to other banks.

Wal-Mart focuses on remodeling, not growth

NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday that it’s scaling back the growth of its namesake discount stores in the U.S., while focusing on remodeling existing locations as the world’s largest retailer navigates through a tough consumer-spending climate.

Eduardo Castro-Wright, president and chief executive of Wal-Mart’s U.S. division, told analysts gathered on the first day of the two-day annual investors’ meeting at its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., that the company plans to open 191 stores in fiscal 2009 and from 142 to 157 stores in fiscal 2010. That compares to 218 stores opened in fiscal 2008.

Associated Press