Retail stocks gained 1 percent today, outperforming on Wall Street.
The S&P 500 Retailing Industry Group increased 7.99 points to 820.90, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose a lesser 0.7 percent, or 96.91 points, to 14,930.87.
Investors were heartened by the Beige Book, an anecdotal take on the economy from the Federal Reserve, which noted that “national economic activity continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace during the reporting period of early July through late August.”
The fashion-industry gainers were led by G-III Apparel Group Ltd., which posted a 14.9 percent rise to $54 after the company raised its earnings outlook for the year. Also perking up were Zale Corp., 6.3 percent to $13.60; J.C. Penney Co. Inc., 6.1 percent to $13.50, and Tiffany & Co., 2.5 percent to $78.47.
Most of Europe’s stock markets made modest gains, with the exception of the FTSE MIB in Milan, which fell 1.4 percent to 16,712.20.
The DAX in Frankfurt and the CAC 40 in Paris were both up 0.2 percent, to 8,195.92 and to 3,980.42, respectively, while the FTSE 100 in London advanced 0.1 percent to 6,474.74.
The euro traded at $1.32 against the dollar while the pound fetched $1.56 and the Swiss franc equaled $1.07.
Retail and luxury stocks were mostly down, with the day’s biggest decliners including Luxottica Group, which sank 2.8 percent to 38.80 euros; Safilo Group, 2.2 percent to 13.59 euros, and Mulberry Group, 1.5 percent to 9.85 pounds.
Among the stocks that gained ground were Inditex, up 1.6 percent to 104.50 euros, and Brunello Cucinelli, 1.1 percent to 23.11 euros.