Asos recovers from yearly loses on Amazon´s reported takeover bid

In a session heavily weighted by the Ebola spreading threat, shares in Asos,

which have slumped from over 70 pounds in February following a string of profit warnings, recovered 304 pence to 2,227 pence as UBS told clients to buy with a 4,050 pence target.

The broker said: “Global online fashion is becoming more competitive. Scale and platform are paramount, and we think significant value could be added to Asos via a combination with a larger online retail organisation.”

Analysts at the private bank added: “We think Amazon might be the best fit and could pay 50 pounds per share. It intends to increase its international and clothing exposure and is not averse to consolidating the online retail space. An acquisition of Asos would give access to a fashionable, low price own label offering.”

Elsewhere, Minneapolis-based Christopher & Banks warned on declining mall traffic and aggressive promotions by apparel stores in the last few weeks.

Before the market opened Tuesday morning, Christopher & Banks Inc. lowered its sales forecast for the August-to-October quarter. Investors responded with a sell-off that wiped 26 percent off its share price by the end of trading, on a day when the broader market also experienced its worst drop since July.

As highlighted by market insiders, this has been a sudden change of momentum for the women’s apparel retailer, which is in the midst of a multi-year turnaround and whose stock last month reached its highest level since before the recession.

Finally, Aeropostale Inc has licensed Sociedad Comercial Grupo Yes S.p.A. to launch Aeropostale and P.S. from Aeropostale brands in Chile. The American teen apparel retailer intends to open standalone as well as department stores and multi brands outlets across Chile by 2015. The company’s first Aeropostale store will come in Parque Arauco in Santiago in Oct 2014, whereas P.S. from Aeropostale outlets will start coming up by early 2015.