Jay Z and Beyonce Knowles have slammed split speculation by looking ''sincere'' and ''loving'' on their second honeymoon.

The couple have been hit by rumours their marriage is on the rocks in recent weeks, but they dismissed such claims by enjoying a PDA in Portofino, Italy just days after celebrating her 33rd birthday.

Beyonce and Jay were seen holding hands during their break and body language expert Leil Lowndes believes the action shows they are expressing ''sincere warmth''.

The pair were seen getting up close and personal throughout a stroll through the Italian fishing village and Leil admitted to HollywoodLife that it is ''lovely the way [Jay's] hand is [always] draped'' over the singer's shoulder.

The couple have been performing on their 'On the Run' tour of late but it has been claimed they could be set to split when their joint run of gigs comes to an end on September 12 and 13 in Paris.

Despite this speculation, Beyonce's father Matthew Knowles recently claimed the pair are not getting divorced and insisted they orchestrated such rumours to ''ignite'' ticket sales for their tour.

Speaking on the Roula & Ryan show on radio station 104.1 KRBE in Houston, Matthew - who used to manage Beyonce and girl group Destiny's Child - said: ''I know, because we've done this. From experience, there's a tour going on.

''So you sometimes have to ignite that tour. It's called a Jedi mind trick. The Jedi mind trick fools you a lot.''

Beyonce and Jay also appeared to play down divorce rumours by making a family appearance at the MTV VMAs last month when they took to the stage with their two-year-old daughter Blue Ivy so Beyonce could collect her Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.