A luxury buying spree is sending shares of companies like Gucci owner Kering and Hermes soaring
- Shares of Kering and Hermes are up 17% and 23% year-to-date, partly on optimism around China's reopening
- Shares of LVMH hit an all-time high of $176.13 earlier this month.
Shares of Kering SA, Hermes International, and other fashion heavyweights are on a tear as traders eye a boom in luxury fashion brands amid easing inflation and a reopening of China's economy.
Kering, which owns brands like Gucci and Balenciaga, has surged 23% year-to-date. The company's stock is trading near 10-month highs at $63.64 after close of European markets on Thursday.
Hermes, known for its famously expensive Birkin bags, is up 17.74% since the start of the year as well. It was trading around $185.93 per share on Thursday.
Shares of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, commonly known as LVMH, hit an all-time high of $176.13 earlier this month. Shares of the French conglomerate continued to trade near record levels throughout the week and is up 18.69% year-to-date.
The surge in the share prices comes on optimisim surrounding China's economic reopening, which each company has substantial exposure to. Traders are also eyeing easing inflation as a potential catalyst to free up more money in consumers' wallets and drive an uptick in discretionary spending.
Kering, Hermes, and LVMH made up a third of the French CAC 40 index's 14% gain this year, which helped propel the benchmark index to a record high on Thursday. The CAC 40 is outperforming the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, which has increased about 9% year-to-date as well.