New York ? After several months of robust spending, consumers took a break in October, giving U.S. retailers only a modest uptick in business. Warm weather curtailed sales at clothing retailers, but some analysts said the industry’s overall improved sales trend was still in place.

As the largest merchants reported their results Thursday, it was clear that discounters and wholesale clubs fared the best, benefiting from strong sales of Halloween candy and costumes. Department stores and mall-based apparel stores struggled, unable to sell consumers cold weather wear amid higher than normal temperatures in the Northeast and Midwest.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, and Costco Wholesale Corp. had results that were above Wall Street estimates. Meanwhile, Kohl’s Corp. was one of the biggest disappointments, posting sales declines much deeper than Wall Street expected.

The result still “fits the improving landscape,” said Michael P. Niemira, vice president of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. He said merchants were poised for a solid holiday season.

The company’s preliminary tally of sales from 68 retailers was up 3.2 percent, better than the reduced 2.5 percent gain Niemira expected. That compared with a 3.2 percent sales increase in the year-ago period, and followed a robust 5.9 percent gain in September.

Kurt Barnard, president of Retail Forecasting LLC in Upper Montclair, N.J., was more cautious about sales trends.

Anna Hellkvist, left, of Stockholm, Sweden, looks at training shoes with her friend, Stephanie Irving, at a Nike store in downtown Portland, Ore. After several months of robust spending, consumers took a break in October, giving retailers only a modest uptick in business.

“It is not just the weather. This is the beginning of the dwindling effect of the tax rebates,” which has helped to spur consumer spending during the past couple of months, he said.

Wal-Mart reported that same-store sales were up 4.5 percent, slightly above Wall Street estimates of a 4.2 percent gain. The company’s total sales were up 11.8 percent. Same-store sales are sales at stores that have been open at least a year.

Target Corp., hurt by weak sales of its Mervyn’s clothing stores and Marshall Field’s department store division, posted a 1.6 percent increase in same-store sales, below Wall Street estimates. Total sales were up 7.9 percent.

Kohl’s suffered an 11.6 percent decline in same-store sales, worse than the 6.5 percent decrease Wall Street expected. Its total sales were up 2.9 percent.