Las Vegas Sands to join S&P 500 stock index next week

The casino and resort company will replace biopharmaceutical company Nektar Therapeutics on the index prior to U.S. markets opening on Thursday. The company joins Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Resorts International on the index.

It will be added to the Global Industry Classification Standard Casinos and Gaming Sub-Industry.

“It’s always an honor to be recognized as an industry-leading company and a successful global enterprise,” said Sands spokesman Ron Reese.

The S&P 500 index is a basket of 500 of the largest U.S. stocks when weighted by market capitalization. It’s considered a benchmark for the the greater U.S. market’s performance.

Sands closed up 2.2 percent on Friday, up $1.23 to $57.11 per share.

The Review-Journal is owned by the family of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.