Wal-Mart Stores Inc shares were down 2.3 percent in early premarket trading on Monday following a weekend news report that the world's largest retailer stymied a probe into bribery at its Mexican affiliate, Wal-Mart de Mexico.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Wayne Hood said he expected the shares to trade down 1 to 2 percentage points, following a New York Times article on Saturday that said the company squelched an internal investigation into the bribery instead of broadening the probe.

Wal-Mart shares were trading at $60.99 on Monday, down from their close on Friday at $62.45 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting By Martinne Geller in New York; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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