Sports Direct "led the rebound" on Friday as the FTSE 100 closed out its first positive week of '16. Having "nearly halved" since early December, Sports Direct bounced 6% to 422p. Exane BNP Paribas "helped the rally with a note arguing that the pessimism had gone too far." Exane said, "The U.K. business is not broken -- yet current valuation looks to imply it is." Exane said that "Sports Direct's Christmas profit warning reset guidance to conservative levels in a year when the European Championships and Rio Olympics should help demand." Longer term, the broker argued that Sports Direct can capitalize on demand for women's fitness wear and the "astonishing" growth of low-cost gym chains in the U.K. (FINANCIAL TIMES, 1/22). ... Billionaire Chinese real estate developer Wang Jianlin is "wading into India's notoriously complex property market," with plans to invest up to $10B in a vast industrial township in the northern part of the country. Wang's Dalian Wanda Group, China's largest commercial property developer, on Friday signed a preliminary agreement with Indian authorities to develop "Wanda Industrial New City," in Haryana state, which is adjacent to New Delhi, India's capital. Indian newspapers have reported that Dalian Wanda "foresees a project that would eventually spread over 100 square kilometres, making it one of India’s largest developments" (FT, 1/22).
