Macau stocks fall as virus spreads

Macau casino stocks traded in the US plunged yesterday in reaction to limited information available about the spread of the Wuhan virus and its future.

Wynn Resorts fell by 8.06 per cent, Las Vegas Sands by 6.75 per cent, Melco Resorts 5.27 per cent and MGM Resorts 3.86 per cent.

Investors also were reacting to the first hard data out of Macau showing steep and accelerating declines in visitation – down 35 per cent on Friday, 59 per cent on Saturday and plummeting 74 per cent on Sunday.

The number of visitors from mainland China tumbled 66.3 per cent to 91,549 during those three days. There was no trading in Hong Kong because of the Chinese New Year holiday.

There have been six confirmed cases of the virus in Macau, leading to the government implementing controls to mitigate the outbreak, including suspending the self-service immigration clearance service system and banning visitors from the Hubei province, where the virus has caused at least 81 deaths.

Hong Kong infectious disease experts are urging the government to take excessive measures against the outbreak, estimating that 44,000 people could be infected in mainland China compared to the official figure of over 2,800 on Sunday.

Source: Fantini’s Gaming Report