LONDON (ShareCast) - Personal goods constituent Burberry was providing a lift to the sector on Thursday afternoon on the back of rumours that the country is to slash import taxes on luxury goods this year.

China is a key growth market for Burberry, the renowned British fashion luxury brand famous for its distinctive tartan pattern and famed trench coats. Like-for-like store sales growth in China has continued to increase by 30% during the company’s first three quarters of the current financial year.

According to a report published yesterday in English-language newspaper China Daily, the country’s former deputy minister of commerce claims that “China needs to reduce import duties” as consumer and luxury goods are important for promoting domestic consumption.

“There will be at least two rounds of reductions this year on a large range of goods,” Wei Jianguo told the paper at the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Sector peers SuperGroup and Worthington Group were also making decent gains today.

BC

Top performing sectors so far today
Personal Goods 23,148.58 +4.65%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 769.47 +4.05%
Construction & Materials 3,589.34 +3.90%
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 26,346.04 +3.69%
Industrial Engineering 7,967.90 +3.22%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Electricity 8,128.16 -0.24%
Gas, Water & Multiutilities 4,834.50 -0.11%

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