Richemont reported better-than-expected quarterly sales, triggering a rally in luxury stocks, after its core jewelry division bucked a downturn in demand for high-end goods.

Richemont delivered stunning holiday quarter performance with luxury jewelry sales up 14%, while Signet reported holiday accessible/mass-market jewelry sales down 2%.

Richemont's Q3 results exceeded expectations with €6.15 billion in sales, driven by strong performance in the Jewellery Maisons division, aligned with

Analysts fell to the sidelines weighing in on Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA (CH:CFR – Research Report), Taylor Wimpey (GB:TW – Research

European luxury shares jumped Thursday after Cartier parent Richemont reported record quarterly sales, lifting investor hopes that the high-end sector is finally recovering from a slump caused by weak Chinese demand.

In equities, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 68.42 points, or 0.16%, to 43,153.13, the S&P 500 fell 12.57 points, or 0.21%, to 5,937.34 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 172.94 points, or 0.89%, to 19,338.29. In contrast, MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 1.31 points, or 0.15%, to 848.61.

NEW YORK/LONDON >> MSCI’s global equities gauge rose today, while Wall Street stocks dipped and U.S. Treasury yields fell after a mixed bag of economic data and Federal Reserve officials’ comments suggested more interest rate cuts on the horizon.

Bank of America and Morgan Stanley earnings are out. Follow along for live updates on stocks, bonds and other markets, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.

Given the challenging environment, there have been clear winners and losers. Research and data firm Coresight Research tabulated 7,327 store closures last year, nearly 58% more than in 2023. And it also tracked 48 retail bankruptcies, including automobile dealers, in the U.S. last year, up from 25 in the previous year.

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Buffett -- as well as his late great partner Charlie Munger -- would recommend avoiding leverage at all costs in your portfolio. Why? Because when the market turns (which it will inevitably do at times), the downside can wipe you out. The levered Nasdaq ETF went into a massive drawdown in 2022, and that was just one year of bad returns.