Macau casino stocks fall after Covid-19 hits

Macau casino stocks fell dramatically on Monday, following the shutdown of nearly all of the gaming hub's establishments to prevent the spread of its most severe Covid-19 epidemic to yet.

On the weekend, city officials announced that all non-essential businesses would be closed for a week beginning on Monday and instructed citizens to remain at home.

The announcement drove down the shares of the city's largest casino operators, with Wynn Macau losing 7.8%, Sands China falling 9.4%, and MGM China Holdings falling 6.8%.

Macau has followed stringently to China's zero-Covid policy, implementing a similar health code system for tracking the virus and identifying high-risk neighbourhoods.

However, the most recent epidemic is the city's worst to date. On Monday, 59 new cases of the virus were recorded in the metropolis of around 650,000 people, bringing the total for the current outbreak to more than 1,500.

By fLEXI tEAM