June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Sales at Macy's Inc., J.C. Penney Co. and other U.S. retailers fell in May as shoppers curbed purchases due to higher gasoline prices and a sluggish housing market.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said U.S. sales at stores open at least a year gained 1.1 percent, on the low end of its forecast for a 1 percent to 2 percent advance.

U.S. retail sales from February through May rose at half the pace from a year earlier as consumers reined in purchases of non-essential items such as clothing and home furnishings..

``The American consumer is not aggressively shopping right now as they are shut in with further worries,'' said Eric Beder, an analyst at Brean Murray Carret & Co. in New York.

U.S. sales last month came in at the ``high end'' of the International Council of Shopping Centers' forecast for an increase of 2 percent to 2.5 percent, it said June 5. Same-store sales are an industry benchmark because they exclude results from new or closed stores.

Shares of Macy's fell 33 cents to $39.17 as of 9:59 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, J.C. Penney lost $3.06, or 3.8 percent, to $78.13 for the biggest drop since July 2006. Wal-Mart slipped 42 cents to $50.33. The Standard & Poor's 500 Retailing Index lost 0.3 percent.

Limited Brands Inc. and Kohl's Corp. were among retailers' whose gains beat analysts' estimates as the warmest May in six years spurred sales of shorts, bathing suits and other lightweight clothing.

Gas Prices, Housing

The national average pump price for regular gasoline reached a high of $3.227 a gallon on May 23. Gasoline has climbed about 11 percent since last year.

U.S. sales of previously owned homes dropped in April to the lowest level in almost four years, the National Association of Realtors said May 25. The median price of an existing home fell 0.8 percent last month from a year earlier to $220,900.

With lower home prices and higher interest rates, people are finding it harder to extract equity from their homes. That may contribute to a slowdown in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy, economists have said.

The drop of 3.3 percent in same-store sales at Macy's, the second-largest U.S. department-store chain, trailed analysts' estimates for a decline of 1.4 percent, according to data from Retail Metrics LLC. Macy's was formerly called Federated Department Stores Inc.

J.C. Penney

J.C. Penney, the third-largest department-store chain, reported a sales drop of 2 percent. Analysts projected a gain of 0.1 percent, while the company forecast unchanged sales. Home goods, fine jewelry and women's accessories hurt results, J.C. Penney said.

Dillard's Inc., a department-store chain that operates mostly in southern U.S. states, reported a same-store sales decline of 2 percent, trailing the estimate for a drop of 1.6 percent. AnnTaylor Stores Corp., a clothes retailer geared at women ages 25 to 55, said sales last month fell 4.6 percent, worse than the estimate for a 2.9 percent drop.

Wal-Mart said demand for holiday barbecue and lawn-and- garden goods lifted purchases.

Consumers' ``worries about gas prices have increased from January through April,'' the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said today in a statement. Wal-Mart predicted June same-store sales will be unchanged or gain as much as 2 percent.

Exceeding Estimates

Some retailers beat analyst estimates. Limited, the owner of the Victoria's Secret lingerie chain, said sales rose 2 percent, exceeding the estimate for a drop of 1.7 percent, according to data compiled by Retail Metrics, a research firm based in Swampscott, Massachusetts.

Kohl's, the fourth-largest U.S. department-store company, said same-store sales increased 10.5 percent, exceeding the estimate for a gain of 5.9 percent.

Gap Inc., the largest U.S. clothing retailer, reported a drop of 3 percent in same-store sales, exceeded the analyst estimate for a drop of 4 percent. Chico's FAS Inc., a women's clothing retailer, reported May same-store sales fell 2.9 percent, while analysts expected a drop of 4.2 percent.

Luxury retailers' continued to outperform analysts' estimates. Saks Inc. said sales jumped 38 percent. Analysts projected a 14 percent gain. It shares surged 98 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $20 as of 9:02 a.m.

May sales at Nordstrom Inc. gained 6.3 percent. Analysts predicted an increase of 2.8 percent. Neiman Marcus Group Inc.'s sales rose 6.6 percent.

Costco Beats

Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest U.S. warehouse club, said May same-store sales gained 7 percent, exceeding an estimate for an increase of 5.7 percent.

``Traffic is drifting away from malls into warehouse clubs,'' Richard Hastings, a senior retail analyst at Smyth- Bernard Sands LLC, wrote today in a research note.

U.S. retail sales for the four months through May climbed at a pace that's about half the 4.1 percent gain in the comparable period in 2006, according to ICSC Chief Economist Michael Niemira. Same-store sales climbed 4.5 percent in May 2006.

Spending rebounded from April, when retailers reported a decline of 1.9 percent, the biggest on record, according to the ICSC. An earlier Easter than in 2006 shifted purchases for the season into March. The coldest April in a decade crimped sales of warm-weather clothing.

May temperatures helped apparel sales, analysts said. The average temperature last month in the 96 largest metropolitan areas was 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius), the warmest since 2001, according to weather consulting firm Planalytics Inc.

U.S. retailers may report June sales results on July 12.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Burke in New York at hburke2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 7, 2007 10:12 EDT