Wal-Mart shares highest in four years

Shares in Wal-Mart, the largest retail chain in the world, hit a four-year peak today (June 4th).

This morning on the New York Stock Exchange, its shares were as high as $59.76, up 3.4 per cent to from $59.63.

Stores across the US reported their best sales since March 2007 as customers sought various items ranging from food and drink to televisions and computers.

Same store sales rose four per cent, with net sales ending May 30th of $31.04 billion.

Yesterday Wal-Mart''s chief financial officer Tom Schoewe told reporters in Rogers, Arkansas that many more consumers are now purchasing items for their home, as they can''t afford to travel due to result of rising fuel costs.

He went on to say that people who shop at Wal-Mart will spend a lot of their money on "basic" items like food.

"Our customer is clearly under pressure when it comes to higher gas prices, higher food prices," he said.