FTSE 100 eyes first gain in four days, but Burberry slides

U.K. stocks edged higher Thursday, catching a break after three straight days of losses, but shares of Burberry Group PLC plunged as China’s economic slowdown hurt sales at the luxury products retailer.

The FTSE 100 UKX, +0.96% was up 0.6% to 6,307.97, topped by a 3.6% rise for miner Glencore PLC GLEN, +4.07% whose shares have plunged 58% this year.

Unilever PLC ULVR, +4.06% shares also climbed 3.6%, after the consumer-products heavyweight said a jump in third-quarter revenue was driven by strong demand for ice cream. Magnum ice-cream is one of Unilever’s brands.

The FTSE 100 on Wednesday slumped 1.2%, under pressure after disappointing Chinese inflation figures. U.K. stocks also fell on Monday and on Tuesday, weighed by downbeat trade data from China.

Thursday’s rise in stocks came as Asian equity markets moved higher, as investors shrugged off the dreary Chinese data and latched onto the prospect that soft U.S. data will keep the Federal Reserve from raising interest rates this year.

But the weakness in China’s economy is putting a dent in business at Burberry BRBY, -12.05% Its shares tumbled 12%— the most in three years — after the British fashion house said first-half sales were little changed from a year earlier. The shares are on track for their worst performance since September 2012.

“Retail revenue growth in second quarter was “impacted by [an] increasingly challenging environment for luxury, particularly Chinese customers,” Burberry said in a statement. The retailer’s sales tally of 1.11 billion pounds ($1.69 billion) came in below the £1.16 billion forecast by analysts polled by FactSet.

The pound GBPUSD, +0.0775% meanwhile, traded at $1.5490 versus $1.5477 late Wednesday in New York.

Source: MarketWatch