Fashion sector lifted by H&M, Adidas and Puma

The FashionUnited Top100 closed up by 14.08 to 1,379.39, compared to other international indexes such as Dow Jones that closed at 1,245, or the Hong Kong based Hang Seng that ended the session at 958 points.

In Wall Street, Vera Bradley, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRA) broke through its 200-day moving average for the first time since November 18th, 2011.  In the same vein, VRA yesterday also set a new “higher high” by piercing resistance of February 2nd’s high of $38.10 by reaching $38.23 during Wednesday’s intraday session.  The new high may be interpreted as bullish bias underlying shares of VRA among technical traders, reported at Tickerreport.

Meanwhile, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) shares were up and the company is said to believe that 2012 gross margins should improve as 2012 progresses.  Piper Jaffray remains overweight on shares of A&F and has a $54 dollar price target on shares of the company and noted that earnings were largely in-line.  So far, ANF has reached an intraday high of $50.44 and is trading above its 50-day moving average.

To close the American news of the day, Skechers USA Inc. (SKX) Wednesday reported fourth-quarter net loss of $57.7 million or $1.18 per share, compared to net earnings of $3.2 million or $0.07 per share last year. Net sales for the fourth quarter were $283.2 million compared to $454.6 million in the fourth quarter last year. Wall Street analysts on a consensus estimated revenues of $324.34 million for the quarter, according to trade publications.

European markets saw a good deal of corporate news yesterday, when Adidas AG, (ADS) rose to the highest price on record in Frankfurt trading after competitor Puma AG (PUM) said it exceeded its annual sales forecast, reported Bloomberg.

It is proving to be a good year so far for quite a bunch of retailers, being H&M the last fashion brand releasing good results for January. In the first month of the year, H&M group total sales including VAT in local currencies increased by 12 percent compared to the same month the previous year. Sales in comparable units increased by 3 percent. Comparable units comprise the stores and the internet and catalogue sales countries that have been in operation for at least a financial year, said the company in a statement released Wednesday.

Adidas gained as 3.8 percent to 59.96 euros while Puma climbed as much as 3.6 percent to 248.45 euros, taking its gain in 2012 to 10 percent. Puma’s net income rose 14 percent in 2011 to 230.1 million euros ($302.8 million), as the company said in a statement released earlier this week. The German sportswear firm advanced it will be  beating analysts’ estimates and its own target of “mid single-digit growth.” Sales will rise by a “high single-digit” percentage in 2012 and 2013, and net income will grow at a “mid single-digit” pace each of those years, assuming moderate input cost inflation, it said.