Downturn in Europe ahead of Fed meeting, luxury sector under pressure from Kering
March 20, 2024 at 04:47 am
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Europe's main stock markets were in the red at the start of trading on Wednesday, held back by a decline in the luxury goods sector following Kering's earnings warning, and by caution ahead of the conclusion of the U.S. Federal Reserve's (Fed) monetary policy meeting.
In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.84% to 8,132.40 points around 08:40 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 gave up 0.17% and in Frankfurt, the Dax was down 0.12%.
The EuroStoxx 50 index was down by 0.45%, the FTSEurofirst 300 by 0.34% and the Stoxx 600 by 0.29%.
Wall Street futures point to a decline of 0.05% for the Dow Jones, 0.08% for the Standard & Poor's-500 and 0.05% for the Nasdaq.
Among stocks, the morning was marked by the collapse of Kering shares, down 14.7%, after the luxury goods group warned on Tuesday that first-quarter sales of its flagship Gucci brand would fall by around 20% due to weak demand in Asia. In Kering's wake, the European luxury goods sector lost 2.3%.
Valneva lost 3.2% after its annual results, while Eutelsat gained 3.3% following the announcement of a partnership with Intelsat.
Bureau Veritas gained 3.8% after announcing several acquisitions in Asia and financial forecasts to 2028.
Elsewhere in Europe, Swiss pharmaceuticals manufacturer Lonza
gained 3.7% after signing an agreement to acquire Genentech's production site in Vacaville, California, from drugmaker Roche for $1.2 billion (€1.1 billion) in cash. (Written by Augustin Turpin, edited by Blandine Hénault)
A global Luxury group, Kering manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in Fashion, Leather Goods, and Jewelry: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo, Qeelin, Ginori 1735, as well as Kering Eyewear and Kering Beauté.
By placing creativity at the heart of its strategy, Kering enables its Houses to set new limits in terms of their creative expression while crafting tomorrow's Luxury in a sustainable and responsible way. It captures these beliefs in its signature: Empowering Imagination.
In 2023, Kering had 48,964 employees and restated revenue of EUR 19.6 billion.
At the end of 2023, the Group had a network of 1,771 stores under its own management, located primarily in Western Europe (367), North America (316), Japan (238), and in emerging countries (698).
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Western Europe (27.6%), Japan (7.2%), Asia/Pacific (35%), North America (23%) and other (7.2%).