By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com -- Shares in U.S. airlines and travel industry firms rose on Tuesday after China announced that it will scale back its Covid travel restrictions.
Beijing said that the required Covid quarantine period for overseas visitors to the Chinese mainland will be slashed to seven days, with three further days of home monitoring. The move comes as China has imposed harsh rules in a bid to squelch Covid infections entirely, casting uncertainty over the outlook for international travel to the world's second-biggest economy.
Several U.S. carriers saw their shares climb in early deals. United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) and Delta Airlines (NYSE:DAL) increased by more than 5%, while American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) and Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK) also jumped.
Meanwhile, planemaker Boeing (NYSE:BA), online travel shopping website Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE), and cruise operator Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) were all also higher following the news.
Elsewhere, Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) said it will be reopening Shanghai Disneyland on Thursday following the lifting of a two-month lockdown in the city. The theme park and resort will resume daily operations with limited capacity.
Disney shares gained more than 3% after the announcement.