Target Continues to Slide on Delay

New York City Target Corp. shares continued to decline Thursday after the discount retailer said market conditions are delaying the potential sale of its credit-card business.

The Minneapolis-based company in September announced it was considering alternatives for its roughly $7.7 billion portfolio of receivables. Target hired investment bank Goldman Sachs as its adviser and said it expected to complete the review by year-end.

Target said on Wednesday that it expects to complete the review during the first quarter. Credit markets have tightened over the past few months as investors' appetite for risk has waned amid problems in the mortgage market. This factor has led to billions of dollars in write-downs for banks and other lenders.