US retail sales started to heat up in July, as Macy’s Inc., Gap Inc., Limited Brands Inc. and others posted better sales results than anticipated. For example, Macy’s Inc. had been expected to post a 3.2% increase in comparable-store sales for the month, but instead checked in with a 4.1% gain. Meanwhile, Gap’s July comp increase was 10%, nearly triple the 3.8% gain expected by analysts. Gap North America trended upward 6.4% with Banana Republic and Old Navy up 5.8 a...