A weak housing market and high gasoline prices caused disappointing sales for many retailers in July, the Associated Press reported. Among the hardest hit were mall-based apparel chains, including Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. and Wet Seal Inc.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. beat analysts’ expectations with a 1.9 percent gain in same-store sales, but the company acknowledged that apparel and home furnishings continued to be weak and that cutting prices on more than 16,000 of its products could hurt profits in the future. Costco Wholesale Corp. reported a 7 percent increase in same-store sales, and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. posted a 10.8 percent gain.

Meanwhile, Macy’s Inc.’s July sales declined 1.4 percent, Limited Brands Inc. had a 3 percent same-store sales drop and AnnTaylor Stores Corp. reported a 5 percent decline. Wet Seal suffered a 7.2 percent decline in sales and Pacific Sunwear’s sales fell 4.6 percent.