Wal-Mart's November Sales Up By 3.4%

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores says November same-store sales rose 3.4%, as consumers shopped more ahead of the holidays as gas prices dropped (see chart above, click to enlarge). Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least one year, rose 3.4% at Wal-Mart stores and 3.5% at its Sam's Club warehouse division. Including fuel, same-store sales rose 3%.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, had expected same-store sales to rise 2.1%.