New York ? After a strong spending pace the first three months of the year, consumers retrenched a little in April, leaving many retailers with modest sales gains for the month. Cool weather, particularly in the Northeast, hurt results at many stores.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Limited Brands, TJX Cos., Target Corp., Talbots Inc. and May Department Stores Co. were among the retailers that reported disappointing sales Thursday.

“It was winterlike weather in the Northeast, but there were other factors too,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at The International Council of Shopping Centers. “It’s hard to pin down. There were so many things going on.”

A fairly early Easter prompted consumers to shop in March, Niemira estimated. He also believes retailers are beginning to see the effects of higher gasoline and food prices.

Niemira’s preliminary tally for 70 retailers was up 4.4 percent, below the 5 percent gain that he had expected. The International Council of Shopping Centers-UBS tally is based on what the industry calls same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year; those sales are considered the best indicator of a retailer’s health.

Wal-Mart announced a gain of 4.4 percent in April, slightly below the 4.5 percent estimate of Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. Total sales were up 11.7 percent.

Target Corp., dragged down by its Mervyn’s division, had a disappointing 4.9 percent gain in same-store sales in April. That was below the 5.4 percent Wall Street anticipated. Total sales were up 11.8 percent.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. reported same-store sales at its department store business was up 5.3 percent, higher than the 5 percent forecast. Total sales were up 4.4 percent.

Talbots had a 0.3 percent gain in same-store sales; Wall Street analysts expected a 2.5 percent increase. The clothing retailer’s total sales were up 6 percent.