The FTSE 100 (^ FTSE) lagged behind its continental peers on Friday, as investors digested the UK government’s review of the traffic light system for international travel, as well as a possible delay in reopening.

The London benchmark was flat after the opening, while the French CAC (^ FCHI) climbed 0.1% and the German DAX (^ GDAXI) rose 0.2%.

“The only clouds on the horizon, aside from the rain-bearing variety, were the performance of international travel stocks, which continued to underperform after the UK government yesterday announced that no new countries would not be added to the list of green trips, ”he added. said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets. “The government also announced that a number of new countries have been added to the red list.”

He added: “There are also fears that we may see a delay in the June 21 reopening date, which tempers the recovery for parts of the UK economy.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed on Thursday that Portugal will be removed from Britain’s green list for overseas travel from Tuesday.

The vacation destination is now on the Amber List, which means travelers must self-quarantine for 10 days upon their return, as well as pay for two PCR tests.

Read more: Travel stocks collapse as Portugal is removed from UK green list

Across the pond, S&P 500 futures (ES = F) were stable at the time of the European opening, Dow futures (YM = F) lost around half a percent, and Nasdaq futures (NQ = F) were 0.1% lower.

It comes as traders brace for the release of US employment data later today, which could give clues as to whether investors should expect a withdrawal of the measures. central bank stimulus. Last month’s employment data was well below expectations, taking economists by surprise.

What has not been taken into account is the extremely generous increase in unemployment benefits following the stimulus package in March. This meant that in many cases it was not worth the effort for workers to return to the workforce hence the great shortfall of 266,000, while the March count was revised down to 770,000. .

The story continues

“The market is digesting strong economic data with inflationary pressures and wondering if this will change the timing of the Fed’s cut and how to factor it into stock prices,” Brad Neuman, chief strategy officer at Reuters, told Reuters. market at Algiers in New York.

Asian stocks were mixed on Friday, hampered by a drop in tech stocks on Wall Street.

The Nikkei (^ N225) ended down 0.40% while the Hang Seng (^ HSI) fell 0.2% and the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) edged up 0.2% after Beijing has proposed a reduction in the stamp duty for major financial companies.

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