It might have been a down day for the most of the banks (they turned in a mixed bag of results in the US on a down day; Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC fell on the other side of the pond), but it was a good day for tartan:

Leading the charge, however, was not Cadbury, but Burberry Group, purveyor of the eponymous trenchcoat, which raced to the top of the leaderboard, gaining 49½ – or 8.3pc – to 649p, its highest close since October 2007, after smashing third-quarter sales forecasts. The company, known for its trademark black, red and camel check, also predicted that annual profits would be towards the top end of market expectations, fuelling hopes that the rich will start spending again.

JP Morgan held a “neutral” recommendation on Burberry with a target price of 600p, while HSBC maintained an “overweight” rating and a target price of 725p. “Following strong figures from Tiffany and Richemont recently, Burberry beating expectations has not come as a genuine surprise,” said Erwan Rambourg, an analyst at HSBC. But he added that “the amplitude of the beat is quite substantial”.

Bullish analysts at Investec Securities expect Burberry to canvass developing markets in their trademark plaid. Hope they’re not going to use the folks I posted the picture of as reps, because they look more like the UK’s answer to the US’s Jersey Shore.