Markets · The week
Luxury Holds Its Lows Through the Fed; Next Rises on a Fourth Upgrade
The sector took the first Federal Reserve rise since 2023 without a shock, because it was priced. The S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent on Thursday, the 10-year yield eased seven basis points to 4.94 percent after topping 5 percent on Monday, and luxury simply stayed where it was: LVMH at €412.30, 1.5 percent above its 52-week low and down 36 percent this year; Hermès at €1,375, within 1.2 percent of its low. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that LVMH has dropped out of Europe's ten largest companies.
The week's losers were Inditex (-4.3%) and Hermès (-2.4%); Capri rose 14 percent on the week with no company news located. Next closed up 2.5 percent at 14,920p after raising full-year profit guidance to £1.255bn — its fourth upgrade of the year — on international online growth of 24 percent (Page 2). Richemont went ex-dividend on Wednesday and remains the only European house positive for 2026.
Bank of America's third-quarter read has luxury demand slowing about three points against the second quarter, weakest in the United States, Japan and Korea, and Hazeltree reports rising hedge-fund shorts in consumer names.
“The first half was much better than we originally anticipated, both in the UK and overseas. Growth did not come at the expense of profitability.” Next plc, Results for the Half Year 2026/27 — 17 September
Full board, Next's half-year from the primary document, Page 2
Sources: Next plc, Results for the Half Year 2026/27 · Bloomberg (headline), 15 Sep · Euronext (BofA data) · Bigdata.com tearsheets (17 Sep close) · Next plc, Results for the Half Year 2026/27 · Bloomberg, 15 Sep (headline) · Euronext (BofA data)