Apparel laggards disappoint at Wall Street

Despite the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebounded to

close to its record after orders for US durable goods climbed more than forecast in February and home prices increased the most since June 2006, apparel stocks traded low. Gap lost 2.7 percent to 35.03 dollars on Tuesday, while Macy’s slumped 0.9 percent to 41.99 dollars. Abercrombie & Fitch Co. also fell, by 1.5 percent to 45.69 dollars.

Adding to gloomy session for quoted apparel companies in Wall Street, Children's Place Retail Stores Inc.'s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings fell 18 percent, damaged by an accounting change and restructuring costs. The children's apparel offered an intriguing outlook for the current quarter highlights earnings per share to be the half what the Street is expecting due to "unfavorable weather" and a weak economy.

Elsewhere, Limited Brands has temporarily changed its name to L Brands. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the retailer said that the name change was part of a planned transition that was required after the sale of its original chain of stores, The Limited, to the investment firm Sun Capital Partners.

Finally, in China, Li Ning dropped over 4.5 percent after the company reported first loss since it went public in 2004. China’s most powerful sportswear brand announced losses of nearly 2 billion yuan for 2012.

“Market and industry conditions continue to be difficult, and the Company's financial performance is expected to remain challenging at least in the first half of 2013,” the company explained in a communication. Li Ning will keep its focus on continued implementation of the transformation plan, to restore profitability to sales channels and transition into a retail-oriented business model for long-term sustainable growth. According to the company's statement, “operational performance is expected to gradually stabilise, generating healthier cash flow and better operating results”.