New York ? A flood of new fashions helped lift many of the nation’s retailers to their fourth straight month of solid sales during March, results released Thursday show.

Wal-Mart, Costco, Limited Brands, J.C. Penney and Nordstrom all topped Wall Street forecasts. The results cut across industry sectors, even some of the long-struggling department stores.

“The month will be the strongest of the year so far,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at The International Council of Shopping Centers.

The few exceptions included Sears and Kohl’s, whose sluggish results lagged analysts’ expectations.

Niemira said the International Council of Shopping Center-UBS sales tally should be up 6.5 percent in March, compared with a 0.2 percent decline in the same period a year ago. The tally is based on what the industry calls same-store sales, those from stores open at least a year. They are considered the best measure of a retailer’s health.

Niemira added that warmer weather helped retailers.

“Everything is moving in the right direction, but there are a number of stumbling blocks,” Niemira cautioned, citing rising gasoline prices and a still-weak labor market.

Frank Badillo, senior retail economist at Retail Forward, a consulting firm in Columbus, Ohio, was more optimistic, saying he doesn’t see “a lot to hold consumers back.”

“We’re in a sustainable rebound,” he said.

Wal-Mart announced a 6 percent gain in same-store sales, while analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had expected 5.7 percent. Total sales rose 14 percent.

Penney said same-store sales in its department stores rose 11.4 percent. Analysts expected a 7.3 percent gain. Total sales were up 10.5 percent.

Kohl’s reported a 0.9 percent same-store sales decline. Analysts had expected a 2.9 percent gain. Total sales were up 9.2 percent.

Sears’ same-store sales results in its domestic business were up 0.1 percent, a bit below the 0.3 percent Wall Street expected. Total domestic sales were down 1.3 percent.

Topeka-based Payless Shoesource reported same-store sales increased 4.6 percent during March.