US shoppers have not been spending as much at Sears

With Sears the first of the major US retailers to report second quarter figures, the concern is whether others will now also produce poor results.

Sears earned $53m (�29m) between April and June, compared to $309m (�167m) for the same period last year.

Chief executive Alan Lacy said there had been weak demand in June.

Bill Dreher, a retail analyst with Deutsche Bank, said the big concern for investors was whether Sears' slip was company specific or industry-wide.

"We believe the vast majority is company-specific," he said.

Last year Sears sold its highly lucrative credit card business to Citigroup.

The unit had long provided a large percentage of Sears' profits.