Share of casino operators rallied in premarket trading Monday, to buck the selloff in the broader stock market, as investors cheered news that Macau looks set to ease COVID-19 restrictions sooner than expected. Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS, +0.51% jumped 7.2%, Wynn Resorts Ltd. WYNN, -0.90% climbed 5.8%, MGM Resorts International MGM, -1.83% rose 2.8% and Caesars Entertainment Inc. CZR, -5.98% were indicated up less than 1%, while futures ES00, -0.49% for the S&P 500 SPX, -1.72% slumped 0.6%. The rallies comes after news that Macau, a gambling center in China, has decided to ease COVID-19 restrictions, by resuming electronic visas for individuals and group tours, around late-October and early-November. “Although it’s tough to quantify the immediate benefit, we believe the resumption of e-visa & group tours should alleviate friction for a Macau trip, as well as signal to many that it’s OK to visit Macau, in turn boosting demand into the year-end holidays and 2023,” analyst DS Kim wrote in a note to clients. “Finally, we feel we can talk about a return to normalcy.”
