shares of casino companies with operations in macau rose after the citys leader boosted hopes of a soonerthanexpected recovery las vegas sands corp which owns several properties in macau through its subsidiary sands china ltd rose almost 8 in premarket trading monday to 3825 a share before mondays gains the stock was down about 6 so far this year compared with the sp 500s decline of nearly 23 over the same period shares of wynn resorts ltd rose almost 6 to 63 the stock was down almost 30 in 2022 through fridays closing price hong kongbased melco resorts  entertainment ltd which operates casinos and hotels in macau and the philippines got a lift too with nasdaqlisted american depositary shares rising almost 11 to 587 shares of mgm resorts international which relies more on its us properties for revenue rose 2 to 3073 mgm shares are down 33 so far this year the casino sectors gains came after news over the weekend that macau expects to resume issuing electronic visas and allowing chinese group tours around late october or early november analysts said that timeline could facilitate a fasterthanexpected return of chinese visitors to macau jpmorgan said the move was the most significant easing since macaus border with china reopened two years ago the move should alleviate friction for a macau trip as well as signal to many that its ok to visit macau jpmorgan analyst ds kim said in a research report mr kim said the lack of electronic visas has been the most common pushback we heard and noted that group tours used to account for about 25 of chinese visitors to the city before the pandemic now that macau has a clear roadmap to recovery this neglected sector should recapture investors attention citi said citi said that this shows beijing fully supports macaus economic recovery both citi and jpmorgan have a bullish stance on the sector citis top picks are sands china and galaxy entertainment group ltd while jpmorgans top pick is sands china some other analysts are more cautious the gambling hubs pace of recovery is still uncertain jefferies analyst andrew lee said in a research note meanwhile quarantine fears continue to deter overseas travel given chinas rapid lockdowns strategy during new local infection cases mr lee added jefferies projected that gaming revenue in 2022 will only be 14 of prepandemic levels with revenue improving further to 46 of prepandemic levels in 2023 write to will feuer at willfeuerwsjcom