Sector movers: Retailers bounce as sentiment recovers after Debenhams profit warning

The general retail sector was making small gains on Thursday, recovering after a Debenhams-inspired sell-off the previous session following its profit warning. Stocks across the sector sank sharply on Tuesday after department store Debenhams said it is now guiding to a pre-tax profit of just £85m in the first half, down 28% year-on-year and well below analysts' forecasts.Debenhams said that the "anticipated final surge in sales" in the lead-up to Christmas failed to materialise, with like-for-like (LFL) sales in the 17 weeks to December 28th rising by just 0.1%. As such, the firm said it would have to make additional markdowns to clear stock in January and February which are likely to take their toll on margins.Following a 12.2% tumble on New Year's Eve, the stock had gained 1.5% to 74.1p today after the company confirmed media speculation that its Chief Financial Officer Simon Herrick would be stepping down next month.Herrick had come under intense criticism over recent weeks in the aftermath of the so-called 'Santa tax' letter to suppliers which demanded discounts just days before Christmas."A chance for a fresh start sees the stock trade slightly higher [today], with heavy losses on Tuesday giving some space for a bounce," said Toby Morris, Senior Sales Trader at CMC Markets.Sentiment in the industry has also recovered slightly after fellow department stores John Lewis and House of Fraser reported strong sales in the lead-up to Christmas. Analysts at Numis Securities said in a research report today that this showed that Debenhams' problems were more "company-specific" rather than indicative of trends across the wider industry.Other retailers such as ASOS, Mothercare, Dunelm, WH Smith, Kingfisher and Sports Direct were all making gains on Thursday, along with Next ahead of its trading update due out tomorrow.Top performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Transportation 3,272.21 +1.14%Construction & Materials 4,348.30 +1.00%General Retailers 2,661.46 +0.50%Fixed Line Telecommunications 4,425.08 +0.29%Financial Services 7,827.25 +0.12%Bottom performing sectors so far todayElectricity 9,040.39 -1.85%Food & Drug Retailers 4,355.85 -1.09%Beverages 14,453.75 -0.97%Food Producers & Processors 7,193.82 -0.97%General Industrials 4,576.53 -0.94%BC