Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Monday said it still expects to reach the high end of its forecast for a 4 percent to 6 percent increase in March sales at stores open at least a year.
On a recorded message updating sales through March 19, Wal-Mart said the best-selling categories included Easter merchandise, food, health and beauty aids and electronics.
The retailer said last week that March sales were tracking near the high end of its forecast.
Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart has benefited from consumers' bigger tax refund checks this month. Wal-Mart and other retailers cash refund checks in stores, hoping that customers will spend at least some of the money there.
Wal-Mart said last week's snowstorms in parts of the U.S. Midwest and East made it harder to gauge how much consumer spending increased after people received mid-month paychecks.
Analysts watch Wal-Mart's so-called mid-month paycheck cycle closely for a reading on how tight household budgets are.
Wal-Mart said that in areas that were not affected by the snowstorms, the mid-month paycheck cycle was pronounced, suggesting that many families are still living paycheck-to-paycheck despite a recovering U.S. economy.
