LVMH shares hit record high as Q1 sales jump on thriving luxury sector

PARIS, April 10 (Reuters) - Shares in France's LVMH rose over 5 percent to record highs in early trading on Tuesday after the Louis Vuitton owner posted better-than-expected sales growth in the first quarter, helped by thriving Chinese appetite for luxury goods.

The upbeat start to the year for LVMH, the industry's biggest company and parent to brands like Christian Dior and Moet & Chandon, sets an encouraging tone for peers at the start of their reporting season.

Luxury goods firms benefited from a strong rebound in Asian demand last year, a momentum that has shown little signs of fading.

"Despite the concerns about the toughening comparable basis in the luxury sector, we believe that LVMH's results confirm the ongoing strong underlying trends in the market," analysts at Berenberg said in a note.

Shares in Paris-based conglomerate Kering, owner of fashion label Gucci, also advanced by 3.8 percent while shares in Burberry climbed 1.7 percent. (Reporting by Sarah White, Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)