When Wal-Mart raises its minimum wage to $10 (€8.81) an hour next year, Target and other competitors are going to face a dilemma: Follow suit and jeopardise profits or risk losing their best workers.

Asian stock markets mostly struggled to advance today after data showed Europe slipped back into recession and several big US retailers disappointed investors with weak forecasts.

Stock indexes closed lower today, a third straight decline, after US retailers issued weak forecasts for earnings and more people filed claims for unemployment benefits.