PARIS (Reuters) - Shares in French luxury goods company Kering <PRTP.PA> surged higher on Wednesday, after the owner of the Gucci brand reported strong third quarter sales figures and said demand from all-important Chinese consumers had not shown signs of slowing.
Kering shares were up 7 percent in early session trading, lifting the stock market prices of rivals such as LVMH <LVMH.PA>, Hermes <HRMS.PA>, Burberry <BRBY.L> and Moncler <MONC.MI>.
Kering reported late on Tuesday that while sales growth at its star performer Gucci had slowed slightly, it was more resilient than expected. As investors fret that momentum in the luxury sector is petering out, it also offered up a rosy outlook for China, saying demand remained healthy.
"Q3 sales were encouraging, with strong underlying trends," wrote Berenberg analysts in a note, pointing to performances at other Kering brands like Balenciaga.
"However, the strong sequential deceleration at the still struggling Bottega Veneta ... showed that the widely feared slowdown in luxury demand seems to have affected only the more troubled brands so far," added Berenberg, which kept a "buy" rating on Kering.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Sarah White)
