There has been a rally in the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) Index, with eight of the global gambling stocks followed by the indicator rising in July.
The AGEM Index finished the month at 565.39 points, a 3.48-percent increase compared to the previous month. The index of share prices of shares in some of the biggest makers of gaming equipment in the world is 33.37 percent higher than a year earlier, showing an annual increase for the 34th month in a row.
The stocks of makers of gaming equipment that added to the AGEM Index notably last month included Crane Co of the United States, which added 9.88 points by rising 13.03 percent; Aristocrat Leisure Ltd of Australia, which added 9.67 points by rising 4.21 percent; and U.S.-based International Game Technology Plc (IGT), which added 6.35 points by rising 8.78 percent.
Among the notable stocks that subtracted from the index was Konami Corp of Japan, which removed 6.97 points by falling 6.91 percent.
The main gauges of stock markets around the world rose last month, the S&P 500 gaining 3.6 percent to finish the month at 2,816.29 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 4.71 percent to finish at 25,415.19 points and the Nasdaq gaining 2.15 percent to finish at 7,671.79 points.
In June, the AGEM Index fell by 1.39 percent to 546.37 points.
The AGEM is a trade association representing manufacturers of electronic gaming devices, systems, lotteries and components for the gaming industry. It began compiling the data for the index in January 2005 on base of 100 points. The stocks that constitute the AGEM Index are weighted by approximate market capitalisation.
