March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said February sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose 4.1 percent, the most in nine months, as shoppers began spending income tax refunds.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer had forecast a gain of 2 percent to 4 percent for February. Sales gains in March will be ``similar to or better than February,'' Wal-Mart said today in a statement on PR Newswire.

The average tax refund is 9.2 percent larger so far this year, according to Internal Revenue Service data, and gasoline prices dropped in the first two weeks of the month. The decline in the fuel relieved some pressure on cash-strapped shoppers, said investors including Patricia Edwards. Snowstorms in the Northeast last weekend also prompted some customers to stock up on food, Edwards said.

``If people have refunds, they're going to file earlier rather than later,'' said Edwards, who helps manage about $5.7 billion at Wentworth, Hauser & Violich in Seattle. ``The economy is a little better off than it was a year ago.''

The Internal Revenue Service refunded $93.3 billion to taxpayers through late February, a 7.5 percent increase compared with the same time last year. The average refund as of Feb. 25 was $2,436, an increase of $206 from 2004.

The price for a gallon of regular gasoline averaged $1.91 during the month, according to the Energy Department in Washington, about 16 percent higher than a year ago. Prices in the fourth quarter of last year averaged about 24 percent higher than a year earlier.

Wal-Mart's gain was the biggest since May, when sales rose 5.9 percent.

Shares of Wal-Mart fell 9 cents to $51.95 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have declined 13 percent in the past year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Katz in Princeton at rkatz3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 3, 2005 07:22 EST