Low petrol price powers Walmart earnings Walmart, the world's largest retailer by revenue, said it was "cautiously optimistic" about the vital end-of-year shopping season as low petrol prices help to bolster consumer spending. The comments came as the retailer ended a six-quarter run of flat or falling sales in the US, where net revenues grew faster than those in its international business in the quarter to the end of October. Greg Foran, the head of Walmart's US business, told reporters: "Our sense is that consumer confidence is reasonable out there, and there's no doubt that lower gas prices are probably giving us a bit of benefit as well." Walmart shares rose 3.1 per cent to $81.69 after its results. A dive in global oil prices, which have fallen by over 30 per cent since June, has pulled the average retail price of petrol in the US down below $3 per gallon. Petrol prices tend to have an outsized impact on consumer sentiment in the US. Charles Holley, Walmart's chief financial officer, noted that last year, in addition to higher petrol prices, consumers were also reckoning with the fallout from the government shutdown and cuts to a federal food stamp programme. "There were a lot of things that the consumers were dealing with last year that they really aren't dealing with this year," he said. Amid intense competition, Mr Foran said Walmart had "formalised" its willingness to match prices on Amazon when smartphone-wielding customers show they can buy a product more cheaply on the online retailer's app. "We've told [managers] that they absolutely can get out there and do the right thing for our customers in terms of matching," he said. I think it's a really sensible thing to do. The biggest shopping day of the year is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving at the end of November. In anticipation of intense retail competition, Walmart also this week said it would spread its traditional discounts over five days. The US group on Thursday reported a 0.5 per cent rise in like-for-like sales for the three months to the end of October, and a much sharper rise in sales at its smaller stores. Walmart's net sales rose 2.8 per cent from a year ago to $118bn. A 3.4 per cent rise in net sales in the US - which include new store openings not counted in like-for-like figures - outpaced sales in its overseas business, which rose 1.7 per cent. Its net income was $3.7bn, or $1.15 per share, the same as last year. The retailer lowered the upper range of its profit forecast for the full year ahead, a sign that intense discounting is likely to trim profitability across the sector.