LONDON, United Kingdom — Neither the Savigny Luxury Index ("SLI") nor the MSCI World Index ("MSCI") saw much activity during the month of December, finishing up 0.5 and 1 percent, respectively.

Big news

• US shoppers were rather subdued in their purchases over the holiday season, causing all the US components of our SLI to fall immediately after Christmas, and then gradually catching up.
• PPR unveiled its first China-focused acquisition with jeweller brand Qeelin.

Going up

• Ports' share price jumped by 20 percent over the month.  Safilo's share price increased by 10 percent on the back of its licence renewals with Max Mara and Max&Co.  Mulberry also recovered some lost ground since its October warning, re-assuring investors that it is on track to meet current full-year forecasts.

Going down

• No stock was negative this month.  Coach's share price stabilised after recording a fall of almost 6 percent just after Christmas.

What to watch

François-Henri Pinault's disclosures that PPR was interested in backing young talents and making acquisitions in hard luxury have already been confirmed by the arrival of Alexander Wang at Balenciaga and the Qeelin acquisition.  There are also rumours about an imminent Christopher Kane announcement.  Will the group's next move further anchor PPR in the contemporary category, where there might be synergies with its lifestyle division?

Sector Valuation

Pierre Mallevays is a contributing editor at The Business of Fashion and founder and managing partner of Savigny Partners, a corporate advisory firm focusing on the retail and luxury goods industry.