May sales rise 2.5 percent

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Friday, June 3, 2005 | 9:52 a.m.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said May sales rose 2.5 percent, near the low end of its forecast, as high gasoline prices and cool weather restrained spending.

June sales at U.S. stores open at least a year will rise 2 percent to 4 percent, matching the prediction for May, Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart said Thursday in a statement. Wal-Mart's monthly sales gains are averaging 2.8 percent this year.

Grocery sales led May's gain as a third straight month of unseasonably low temperatures discouraged sales of spring apparel, garden supplies and sporting goods. Gasoline prices were 9 percent higher in May than a year earlier after dropping from April's record high.