Sector movers: Sales rise offsets Debenhams caution

13th Apr 2010 12:47

Retailers have come into focus and it appears that is a rise in sales across the sector in March rather than a rise in profits at Debenhams that has lifted sentiment.UK retail sales in March rose at their fastest rate in almost four years thanks to the earlier timing of Easter this year, new figures from the British Retail Consortium show. Total retail sales rose 6.6% against only 0.6% growth in March 2009. On a like-for-like basis, sales rose 4.4% from last year when sales had dropped 1.2%.The data has given a boost to retailers such as B&Q owner Kingfisher, clothes retailers Next and Marks & Spencer and the supermarkets Sainsbury's and Tesco.Debenhams is the only company from the sector posting results and the reception has been cool. The department store posted a healthy rise in profits in the half year to 27 February as it shifted its emphasis to sales of higher margin own bought clothing from designer labels, but chief executive Rob Templeman was not exactly brimming with enthusiasm when he said he expects the trading environment to be 'broadly neutral for Debenhams' in the second half.CSR is leading the technology hardware and equipment sector lower after the chipmaker lost an appeal in a case related to GPS navigation chips. SiRF, a company CSR bought last year, is accused of infringing three of rival company Broadcom's patents.The fall in CSR's share price comes despite broker Panmure Gordon's observation that 'this all relates to historic product, not anything shipping today' and is not material to the investment case.Top performing sectors so far todayGeneral Retailers 1,787.78 +1.30%Food & Drug Retailers 5,041.95 +0.76%Automobiles & Parts 3,280.31 +0.72%Beverages 8,733.88 +0.49%Health Care Equipment & Services 3,731.86 +0.40%Bottom performing sectors so far todayForestry & Paper 4,857.88 -2.00%Technology Hardware & Equipment 418.91 -1.32%Mining 24,422.50 -1.30%Chemicals 5,271.17 -1.09%Banks 5,138.24 -0.89%