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<li>STOXX 600 up 0.2%</li>
<li>Energy, utilities lead</li>
<li>Brent prices rise</li>
<li>Wall St futures edge up Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at</li>
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<h3>LUXURY: UBS SAYS EVEN SMALL BEATS MAY POP</h3>
As consumer sectors typically underperform broader equity markets during oil shocks, it is little wonder that anxiety is gripping luxury investors heading into the first-quarter reporting season.
Yet UBS says it has not seen any evidence so far of a demand slowdown — particularly in Asia — a view reinforced by a ground trip last week.
As a result, and given the sector’s steep de-rating, the Swiss bank expects even modest earnings surprises to be well received.
“Against a backdrop of very negative market sentiment and depressed valuations, we think that even modest Q1 beats could be disproportionately rewarded,” says analyst Zuzanna Pusz .
“Fundamentally, we continue to expect sequential improvement for most companies, though selectivity remains critical”.
Sector bellwether LVMH (LVMH.PA) reports quarterly sales in April. More on the luxury earnings: Luxury in ‘slow trot’ as tourism and Middle East risk bite
(Danilo Masoni)
EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS: S&amp;P 500 CORRECTION CLOSE TO ENDING - MORGAN STANLEY CLICK HERE ENERGY AND RENEWABLES SUPPORT THE STOXX CLICK HERE BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPEAN FUTURES SOFT; INWIT, ALUMINIUM STOCKS WATCHED CLICK HERE IT’S A SAD STRAIT OF AFFAIRS AS OIL SOARS CLICK HERE

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LIVE MARKETS-Luxury: UBS says even small beats may pop