A cold snap in the run-up to Christmas spurred seasonal sales at Hennes & Mauritz, which helped shares of the Swedish fashion retailer to pick up from Wednesday's lows for the year.
H&M put on 3.2 per cent to €144.50 as analysts also pointed to a 9 per cent overnight rebound in shares of GAP, its hard-hit US peer, amid expectations of lower US interest rates early next year, which will benefit the entire retail industry.
H&M has faced a difficult year, underperforming European indices by more than 40 per cent. A steady decline in the share price since early November was a reflection of warmer-than-usual weather, which raised concerns over sales of the winter clothes collection.
H&M said yesterday that it would make no comment on Christmas trade until it released sales figures on January 25th. The group did, however, concede that the final week before Christmas was more winter-like, which was positive for the whole sector. Handelsbanken recommended buying the share ahead of the quarterly earnings announcement.
Among other retailers that are constituents of the general retailing sector of the FTSE Eurotop 300 index, France's Castorama jumped 3.4 per cent to €274 and Pinault-Printemps-Redoute edged 0.4 per cent higher at €225.9. Germany's Metro picked up 1.7 per cent to €48.70.
In the motor sector, DaimlerChrysler slipped to another four-year low amid continuing concerns over its troubled Chrysler business in the US.
The shares dropped to an intra-day low of €42.70, before recovering to close little changed on the day at €43.37. BMW finished 5.8 per cent lower at €33.90 as investors booked profits after sharp gains in the past week.
A number of technology stocks made moderate gains in thin markets, in spite of the downgrade on IBM from Prudential Securities of the US. The computer sector was up 1.7 per cent in the FTSE Eurotop indices, with SAP showing a 2.7 per cent rebound to €144.75, having fallen since December 11th from €190 to €140.
