Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said October sales rose more than it projected after consumers battered by job losses and shrinking credit bought discounted groceries and Halloween costumes for $12.88.

Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year increased 2.4 percent last month, beating Wal-Mart's forecast of a 1 percent to 2 percent gain. Comparable-store sales in November may increase 1 percent to 3 percent, Wal-Mart said today in a statement.

Wal-Mart is stepping up pressure on rivals struggling with falling sales by increasing discounts during the holidays. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain will sell Battleship and other board games for $10 and the Magnavox Blu-Ray DVD player for $198, $31 off the previous price.

``Other retailers' pain is Wal-Mart's gain in this environment,'' Wal-Mart investorWalter Todd said today in a telephone interview.

``From a PR standpoint, they say they're trying to help the consumer out,'' said Todd, who helps manage $750 million in assets, including 120,000 Wal-Mart shares, at Greenwood Capital Associates in Greenwood, South Carolina. ``The internal spin is they're stepping on their competitors' throats right now.''

Wal-Mart fell 64 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $53.49 at 16:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Among the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 30 stocks, only Wal-Mart is higher this year, gaining 14 percent to the index's 31 percent decline before today.

Third Quarter

The retailer plans to report third-quarter results Nov. 13. It reiterated last month it may earn 73 cents to 76 cents, compared with 76 cents expected by 22 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Falling gasoline prices may spur U.S. holiday sales, Wal- Mart said. The average price for regular unleaded gas is $2.34 a gallon, down from a record $4.114 July 17, according to the Web site of the American Automobile Association, a motorists group.

Wal-Mart said it plans to reduce prices weekly with an emphasis on ``items families want and need most.'' A General Electric Co. 12-cup coffee maker sells for $24, down from $29.88, while a 48-ounce container of Crisco vegetable shortening that cost $3.88 now goes for $2.98.

Wal-Mart expects comparable-store sales growth in the ``low- single'' digits on a percentage basis going into 2009, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Schoewe told analysts Oct. 28. Total sales may rise 8 percent in the fiscal year through January, he said.

Winning Share

The company has grabbed sales from rivals as shoppers seek lower prices and cut shopping trips, Eduardo Castro-Wright, the retailer's U.S. stores chief, told analysts last week.

Wal-Mart may pick up market share in clothing, home furnishings and consumer electronics as more retailers file for bankruptcy, Charles Grom, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., wrote in a Nov. 3 note to clients.

Grom upgraded the stock to ``overweight'' from ``neutral'' on the view that ``Wal-Mart is perfectly positioned as the low- cost leader.'' It may capture sales from bankrupt retailers including Hayward, California-based Mervyn's LLC and Knoxville, Tennessee-based Goody's Family Clothing Inc., he said.

Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott, 59, told analysts in Rogers, Arkansas, last week that the deteriorating U.S. retail environment may enable Wal-Mart to negotiate less expensive leases and buy goods more cheaply.

`Price Leadership'

``We are running a better business than we have in the past,'' Scott said. ``We continue to invest in price leadership because in all of our markets our brands are synonymous with saving money.''

Among its formats, Wal-Mart operates Asda supermarkets in the U.K., Bodega general merchandise and grocery stores in Mexico and Seiyu outlets in Japan.

Castro-Wright told analysts last week that consumers are using less credit, signaling their credit cards are ``maxed out.''

The Federal Reserve said Nov. 3 its quarterly survey of senior loan officers showed that almost 60 percent of respondents indicated they had tightened lending standards on credit-card loans. Almost 65 percent of respondents indicated they had tightened lending on other consumer loans, the Fed said.

A quarter of consumers surveyed in a Standard & Poor's survey released Oct. 15 said they're at or near the limits on their primary credit card, and 20 percent said they're approaching the limit on their secondary cards.

``We are all living through something we've never lived through before,'' Scott told analysts. ``We have an awful lot of customers who live paycheck to paycheck.''

The U.S. unemployment rate moved up to 6.1 percent in September from 4.7 percent the same month a year ago. The rate might jump to 6.3 percent in October as employers shed another 200,000 jobs, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Burritt in Greensboro, North Carolina, at 1348 or cburritt@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 6, 2008 16:15 EST