Costco September same-store sales rise 6 pct

Oct 4 (Reuters) - U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale Corp posted a better-than-expected 6 percent rise in September sales at stores open at least a year, helped by higher gasoline prices and stronger dollar.

Net sales at Issaquah, Washington-based Costco rose 8 percent to $9.31 billion in the five weeks ended Sept. 30.

Analysts were expecting same-store sales to rise 5.7 percent, including the impact of fuel prices, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Excluding the impact of gasoline prices and foreign exchange, comparable September same-store sales were up 5 percent, Costco said.