NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. saw a slimmer sales gain in October than in the year-earlier period, the world's largest retailer reported Thursday.

Sales at the retailer's stores open at least a year, a closely watched measure known as same-store sales, grew 3.7 percent across the company in the four-weeks ended Nov. 1. That was down from a 6.7 percent gain in same-store sales a year earlier. The company's Wal-Mart division saw a 4.8 percent gain in same-store sales, while its Sam's Club wholesale stores division saw a 1.6 decline in same-store sales.

Overall sales increased 11.3 percent to $18.5 billion.

Shares of Wal-Mart (WMT: Research, Estimates), a component of the Dow Jones industrial average, lost 8 cents to $54.34 in trading Wednesday.