HK Stock Market Move | In the morning session, Macau gaming stocks rose, with Sands China (01928) issuing dividends for the first time in five years. JP Morgan predicts that Macau's annual gaming revenue will increase by 2% year-on-year.

The gambling stocks rose in the morning session, as of press time, Sands China (01928) rose 6.29% to 18.26 Hong Kong dollars; GALAXY ENT (00027) rose 5.42% to 31.1 Hong Kong dollars; WYNN MACAU (01128) rose 3.77% to 5.51 Hong Kong dollars; MGM CHINA (02282) rose 4.11% to 10.64 Hong Kong dollars. On the news front, Sands China announced its annual performance, with net revenues increasing by 8.4% to 7.08 billion US dollars; net profit recorded 1.045 billion US dollars, a 51% increase compared to the previous year; earnings per share of 12.91 US cents. A final dividend of 25 Hong Kong cents per share will be paid out. Morgan Stanley recently pointed out that Sands China has included the word "consideration of dividend recommendation" for the first time since April 2020 and eventually declared a dividend. Morgan Stanley believes this is a positive signal, as many investors did not expect any dividends in 2024. JP Morgan released a research report predicting that Macau's gambling revenue in February will range from 18.3 billion to 19.4 billion Macau dollars, a decrease of 1% to an increase of 5% year-on-year. The bank believes that the annual gambling revenue for the year may only record a low single-digit increase, currently predicting a 2% year-on-year increase. JPMorgan Chase believes that market expectations have already decreased to stable growth and as long as industry data does not deteriorate further, the industry's performance will roughly follow market beta values and liquidity changes.