Macau Casino Stocks Plunge as China Covid-19 Spike Tightens Travel Rules

March 15, 2022 Hong Kong Earnings & Filings

Macau Health authorities said Monday visitors from neighboring Guangdong province will have to serve seven days quarantine on entering the gambling hub. That’s amidst the worst spike in COVID-19 cases since China clamped down on the pandemic in early 2020.

Shares in SJM Holdings plunged 12.3% at the close of trading in Hong Kong Monday. Sands China was down 11.6%, while Melco dropped 11.5%. Shares in Galaxy Entertainment were down 5 %.

On Sunday, Beijing placed 17.5 million residents of Shenzhen, a sprawling tech hub city on the mainland’s border with Hong Kong, under lockdown. That’s after 66 new cases were detected the previous day.

As other nations resolve to learn to live with the virus, China’s government is still doggedly pursuing its zero-COVID strategy. Shanghai was also placed on lockdown, as nearly 3,400 new cases were reported nationwide on Sunday.