Chinese Sports Retailers See Favor From Stock Market

Shares of mainland China-focused sportswear companies jumped up to 10.7%, according to Celine Sun of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Sportswear retailers "made a strong rebound on the stock market" Friday with investors "betting they were likely to be among the first consumer-related sectors to recover from the economic downturn." Anta Sports Products, the largest local sportswear retailer in terms of total sales, rose 9.6% to close at HK$5.96 ($0.77), while Li Ning climbed 6.7% to HK$4.13 ($0.53). Other sports companies that rose include Fujian-based Peak Sport Products, Xtep International Holdings and 361 Degrees International, which jumped between 9 and 10.7%. UBS Analyst Spencer Leung said, "We expect sportswear to be one of the first of the consumer discretionary segments to emerge from the current downturn as the consolidation process is near completion." He added, "We have turned bullish on the sportswear segment" (SCMP, 9/29).