Alcohol, gambling stocks rally as Anwar named PM after days of political impasse

Sin stocks related to the alcohol and gaming industries have reacted positively on news of Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Anwar Ibrahim being announced as the 10th prime minister.

Among the top 10 stocks in Bursa Malaysia today, breweries Heineken and Carlsberg emerged in the first and third places.

Heineken closed at RM24.88, up RM1.56 or 6.69%,  while Carlsberg closed at RM22.94, up 94 sen or 4.27%.

Gambling-related stocks such as Magnum Berhad saw an increase when they closed higher by 9.3% to RM1.41, while Sports Toto Berhad closed at RM1.70, up 5.59%.

Companies such as Genting Berhad closed at RM4.48 after gaining 6.41%, while Genting Malaysia saw an increase when it closed at RM2.72, up 20 sen or 7.94%.

Earlier, the announcement of Anwar as prime minister also saw the performance of Bursa Malaysia improve when the FBM KLCI closed past the 1,500 point level, to 1,501.88, an increase of 58.38 points or 4.04%.

The gains were contributed by positive sentiments as a decision by Istana Negara was seen to end the political impasse following the conclusion of the 15th general election, as well as helped by signs that the US Federal Reserve would go slow on raising interest rate.

Two days after the elections saw Islamist party PAS emerging as the party with the most number of seats, alcohol and gamling stocks took a beating, according to Bloomberg.

It also said shares of casino operator Genting Malaysia Berhad plunged as much as 11%, the biggest fall in two years, while its parent company Genting Berhad fell 10%.

At the same time, Sports Toto fell to its lowest level since 1993 while shares of Heineken and Carlsberg also tumbled.