Little gain, pain

The UK consumer didn’t cancel Christmas after all. Two of the UK’s largest retail chains drove a European sector rally on Tuesday with trading updates that confounded the most bearish expectations in a decade. But while the widely expected profit warnings failed to materialise, the relief rally needs to be put in context. True, the good news was more than piecemeal. One of the UK’s biggest clothing chains operating in the tough mid-market, Next, reiterated its full-year profit guidance in spite...