Casino Winners: MGM Mirage, Sands
NEW YORK (
) -- Casino stocks are in the green ahead of first-quarter earnings reports, with
MGM Mirage
(MGM) - Get Report
hitting yet another 52-week high.
MGM was trading at a high of $16.53 a share, before falling back to $16.43.
This comes as
Las Vegas Sands
(LVS) - Get Report
prepares to open the first part of its $5.7 billion Singapore casino tomorrow. It will be the world's second most expensive casino, rivaling only MGM's CityCenter, which opened late last year.
Sands' newest development is expected to generate $1 billion in profit annually. Currently there is only one other casino operating in Singapore, which is owned by
Genting Singapore
.
Shares of Sands are gaining 4.7% to $26.29 in morning trading.
Casino operators have been focused on overseas expansion as the U.S. gaming market remains weak.
Wynn Resorts
(WYNN) - Get Report
, for one, opened its $600 million Encore in Macau last week and said it is considering moving its headquarter from Las Vegas to the Chinese gambling hub.
Other notable gainers are Macau-based
Melco Crown Entertainment
(MPEL)
, which is advancing 3.3% to $5.01 in early trading and
Boyd Gaming
(BYD) - Get Report
, which is climbing 2.8% to $12.16.
-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.
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