American retailers including Federated Department Stores Inc. and Sears, Roebuck & Company stepped up discounts in the second weekend of the holiday season after posting disappointing sales gains in November. Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s biggest merchant, joined in the price-cutting as it kicked off a new advertising campaign on Friday after comparable sales rose 0.7% last month.

“They’re worried, but they’re not panicking to the point of lowering prices indiscriminately,” said the president of Retail Forecasting in Upper Montclair, N.J., Kurt Barnard. “They are lowering prices on the things that are just sitting there and nobody seems to want.”

Retailers are willing to wait until later in the season to mark down some items because they have kept inventory low, he said.

Shares of Circuit City Stores Inc., the no. 2 American electronics chain, fell as much as 12% after the company said sales in the third quarter ended November 30 rose 3.8%, less than analysts expected. The chief executive, Alan Mc-Collough, in a statement yesterday, blamed “a strategic decision to be less promotional” in music and movies than a year earlier.

Sears cut prices on most items 10% from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday. Kohl’s discounted fine jewelry by 70% and kitchen appliances by as much as 40% from 6 a.m. to noon.

Bloomingdale’s, owned by Federated, reduced prices on women’s cashmere sweaters by 20%, and J.C. Penney took an additional 10% off clearance items from 7 a.m. to noon.

“We’re going to be aggressive and competitive in every way in price and hours going forward,” said a J.C. Penney spokesman, Tim Lyons. He declined to comment on whether the company was revising its promotion plans.

Merchants who hold off on moderate discounts now may lose shoppers and face steeper discounts toward the end of the season, said the chief economist at the New York-based International Council of Shopping Centers, Michael Niemira.

“Waiting doesn’t get you too far if you’re going to be forced to do it,” he said in an interview. Discounting too soon may result in lost revenue, he said. “You don’t want to give away the store.”

Sales at American chain stores open at least a year rose 1.7% in November, less than an initial forecast for a gain of 3% to 4%, according to the trade organization ICSC. Sales at companies such as Sears and J.C. Penney that offered early-morning discounts the weekend after Thanksgiving rose more than analysts expected.

MasterCard International said transaction volume increased 16% over the weekend from a year earlier.

High gasoline prices and sluggish employment gains have stalled some consumer spending, said analysts including Mr. Niemira. American employers added 112,000 workers in November, fewer than the lowest forecast. The average price for a gallon of regular grade gasoline was $1.95 in the week ended November 29, up 31% from a year earlier, according to a Department of Energy report.

Borders Group Inc., the no. 2 American bookstore chain, slashed prices by 50% on books including “My Life” by President Clinton and “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom.

The price of jeans was cut to $29.50 from $49.50 at the Express chain of Limited, the no. 2 American clothing retailer. Its semiannual pants sale started Friday, ahead of schedule, after Express’s same-store sales dropped 22% in November, said a Limited spokeswoman, Amie Preston.

Wal-Mart may have lost sales the weekend after Thanksgiving because it offered fewer discounts, analysts including Emme Kozloff at Sanford C. Bernstein said.

“They ratcheted down the expectations, but they’re not going to cede the rest of the holiday season,” said a retail partner at Accenture Ltd., Narendra Mulani.

Shares of Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart fell 41 cents to $52.52 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney rose 63 cents to $39.37, and Sears, based in Hoffman Estates, Ill., rose 91 cents to $53.21. Shares of Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City declined $1.08, or 7.8%, to $15.13.

Wal-Mart’s rivals may have been better able to predict what types of items Wal-Mart would discount the day after Thanksgiving and offered their own, said a spokeswoman, Sharon Weber.

Wal-Mart sold a DVD player for $27.87, compared with $17.99 players at Best Buy, the largest American electronics retailer, and Circuit City.

Discounted items featured in new Wal-Mart advertisements include a private-brand portable DVD player for $149.87, marked down from $179.87, and Fisher-Price Sesame Street Elmo for $16.88, compared with an earlier price of $24.47.

Other items highlighted in the ads had prices that were already lower than those of competitors, so Wal-Mart didn’t have to cut them further, said a spokesman, Gus Whitcomb. The price cuts are permanent, he said.

Without highlighting low prices, Wal-Mart might risk losing customers beyond the holiday season, said Patricia Edwards, who helps manage about $5.3 billion at Wentworth, Hauser & Violich in Seattle, including Wal-Mart shares.

“Once you teach Wal-Mart consumers that they can go elsewhere and find a comparable deal, Wal-Mart might regret it,” Edwards said. “It may have taught their consumer that they’re not the low-cost provider.”