Apparel stocks scape European markets´slump

The European indexes slumped after the Federal Reserve lowered

its growth forecast for the U.S. economy. European leaders meet in Brussels today to discuss the bailout plan for Greece. Euro-zone private sector expanded at the slowest pace since October 2009.

World stocks edged lower after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered its growth forecast for 2011 and 2012 and gave no indication of further stimulus plans. Amidst this adverse atmosphere, the FashionUnited Top 100 Index rised by 6.74 points to close at 1310.47. In London, luxury brand Burberry lost 35p at 1,357p and fashion house Next dipped 15p at 2,252p, whereas in France, French luxury giant LVMH, maker of Louis Vuitton bags and Moet champagne, on Monday reported a 23-percent profit drop for the first six months of 2009 to EUR 687 million. But the company's turnover edged up 0.2 percent from the same period in 2008 to EUR 7.81 billion despite a sharp drop in sales of drinks and jewellery.

In Italy, Salvatore Ferragamo SpA priced its forthcoming initial public offering at EUR9.00 per share, valuing the company at EUR1.51 billion, in what marks a successful showing for the Italian fashion house's market debut amid broader weakness for Italian stock listings. Ferragamo received orders for 3.6 times the offer, the company said. The final price is close to the middle of Ferragamo's original range.

Meanwhile, Prada set to begin trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday after raising 16.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$2.15 billion) from its initial public offering last Friday, fell 2.9% in "gray-market" trading Thursday amid general market weakness. With markets wobbly around the world—over the past month Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index is down 4.2%, including a 0.5% drop Thursday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 2.2%—investors appear to be growing more selective about their IPO investments.