Report: Wal-Mart pulling ahead of rivals

New York City Wal-Mart Stores says it is pulling even further ahead of its rivals as it racks up solid sales gains and steals customers away from retailers across the globe, the Associated Press reported.

"We have widened the competitive moat," Charles Holley Jr., the company's executive VP finance, told investors Thursday during the Bank of America consumer conference on Thursday.

Holley pledged that the world's largest retailer will remain "the low-price leader" and will take advantage of new business opportunities over the next few months.

Holley noted that at Wal-Mart's U.S. stores, customer traffic has been up and they are gaining market share from households that make over and below $65,000 in income.

The chain plans to keep pushing low-price products, Holley said, adding that it has 40% more discounts than a year ago. The company is also relaunching this month a store-brand food line called Great Value, which will have better packaging and products.