Burberry hit by slowdown in luxury demand as it issues sales warning Business

Thanks for joining me. Burberry has warned it may not be able to hit this year’s revenue targets as it faces a global slowdown in demand for luxury goods.

The British fashion stalwart said that profits will be at the lower end of expectations amid a “challenging” trading environment.

5 things to start your day 

1) Mortgage rates cut to less than 5 per cent at ‘big six’ banks | Falling inflation raises hopes that the Bank of England will hold interest rates

2) It’s time the Tories started striking some open goals | The Conservative party is trailing in the polls – the Autumn Statement provides a rare opportunity

3) Offshore wind projects to receive subsidies boost after auction flop | Claire Coutinho to announce 70pc increase to guaranteed price offered to developers

4) Boost for Silicon Valley as tech giants granted power to appeal fines | Digital markets bill to be watered down after fierce lobbying

5) More than 1,300 UK jobs at risk after HS2 setback | French manufacturer Alstom may be forced to mothball Britain’s biggest train factory

What happened overnight 

Asian shares have retreated after Wall Street added a bit more to its big rally from the previous day after retail sales and wholesale prices data added to encouraging inflation statistics this week.

Any lift in sentiment from a meeting between Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping appeared to fade after the US president, pressed by a reporter on whether he trusted Xi, said he believed in trusting but verifying and conceded that China’s leader is a dictator.

“He is a dictator in a sense,” Biden said.

Biden and Xi emerged from their first face-to-face meeting in a year vowing to stabilise the fraught relationship between the world’s two biggest economies. 

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.2pc to 17850.33 and the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.5pc at 3,056.09.

In other Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 shed 0.2pc to 33,445.08 and the Kospi in Seoul edged 0.1pc lower, to 2,486.33.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 sank 0.8pc to 7,051.20.

The S&P 500 was up a whisper (0.2pc) at 4,502.88, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.5pc to 34,991.21 amid rising confidence that the US has got a grip on inflation and that interest rates are likely to fall in 2024. 

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.1pc to 14,103.84.

Treasury yields rose Wednesday, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury bonds climbing to 4.53pc from 4.45pc.