FTSE 100 closes flat after travel stocks drop, Sensex opens above 52,000 as Nifty hits record high Business News

London’s FTSE 100 closed near a flat line on Friday after falling around 30 points as airline shares weighed on the index following the UK’s decision to tighten travel restrictions again.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed just four points ahead at 7,069 after recovering from the day’s lows, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250 also closed 0.1% higher with 22 832.

Financial stocks also slumped, and Pershing Square Holdings and Standard Chartered Bank were among the biggest losers.

British Airways owner IAG lost 0.9% after the UK again tightened travel restrictions amid concerns over the rise of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Portugal was removed from the green list and seven more countries were added to the red list.

Meanwhile, US stocks rallied on Friday, driven by gains in tech stocks followed by a positive monthly jobs report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 179 points, or 0.52%, to 34,756, the S&P 500 gained 37 points, or 0.88%, to 4,230.

The Nasdaq Composite added 200 points, or 1.47%, to close at 13,814. All three indices rose for the week, with the Nasdaq posting its third consecutive weekly gain.

American employers increased their hires in May and raised wages as they competed for workers. But the increase in the non-farm payroll of 559,000 jobs was lower than the 650,000 forecasts of economists polled by Reuters.

Asian stocks got off to a good start on Monday, however, mainland China and Hong Kong stocks fell after the early hours. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is 0.3% higher and South Korea’s Kospi is 0.2% higher in the first half of trade.

Indian indices opened higher as the Nifty 50 started at a record high of 15,725, up 55 points, or 0.35%. Sensex opened at 52,231, up 131 points, or 0.25%.