FTSE 100 on the rise; pubs and restaurants count down to indoor reopening on

• FTSE 100 closes up over 80 points
• Hospitality to resume indoor service on Monday
• Wall Street stocks on the up

5.10pm: FTSE closes ahead

FTSE 100 closed higher in the last session of the trading week, but big cap miners weighed on the benchmark, as iron ore and copper prices slid.

The UK’s index of leading shares finished up over 80 points, or 1.15%, at 7,043.  The top laggard was copper titan Rio Tinto (), down 2.68% to 6,135p.

Over the week as a whole though, the Footsie reversed, shedding 1.2%. 

“European stocks have continued to recoup some of this week’s lost ground, with the FTSE100 recovering nicely back above the 7,000 level, with the DAX and CAC40 also performing well,” noted Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

“The underperformance in the FTSE100 is primarily being driven by mining stocks which are getting clobbered on the back of a sharp slide in iron ore and copper prices, after Chinese authorities expressed concern over their recent steep rise, amidst a surge in production at Chinese steel mills,” he added.

In the US, stocks were making good gains and continuing to recover from the week’s earlier losses. The Dow Jones added over 278 points at 34,300, while the S&P 500 added over 51 points at 4,164.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq surged over 257 points at 13,382.

3.30pm: Pubs and restaurants count down to indoor reopening on ‘Freedom Monday’

FTSE 100 was on the rise just before close, surging 68 points to 7,031.

Pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues are set to resume indoor activities on Monday.

Trade body the British Beer and Pub Association expects 45,000 pubs to open their doors on 17 May and serve 3mln pints.

It will be welcome as bad weather has hampered trading since the reopening of outdoor service in mid-April, with like-for-like sales plunging 51% in the week to 8 May compared to the same period in 2019, according to CGA figures.

Concerns had been rising that a spate of instances of the so-called Indian variant of the Covid-19 virus might prompt the government to backtrack.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, today though said that the four tests to allow pubs and restaurants to reopen indoors on 17 May had been met allowing the country to move to the next stage on the reopening roadmap.

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2.39pm: Wall Street starts…