The stock market that REALLY tells you about the UK economy is back at pre-referendum levels
The FTSE 250 stock market -a bellwether for the British economy that is more UK-focused than the bigger FTSE 100 - has erased pretty much all of the losses suffered since the Brexit vote.
Britain's FTSE 250 on Wednesday closed above where it was on June 22, the day before the UK's referendum on its membership of the European Union. The index gained 1.10% on Wednesday to close at 17,257 points - above the close of 17,043 points seen on June 22.
Shares were boosted by a better than expected Q2 GDP number for the UK on Tuesday. GDP growth came in at 0.6%, above the 0.5% growth forecast by economists.
The index is still just below the 17,333 points the index shut at on June 23, the day of the vote, but only by roughly 0.4%. Earlier in the day, the index briefly passed the mark, hitting 17,359 points at around 2:20 p.m. BST (9:20 a.m. ET).
FTSE 250 companies have been steadily gaining since the index hit its lowest level in years, 14,967 points, on June 27. Here's the chart showing how the FTSE 250's climb has looked:
The index's best performer on the day was investment management and financial planning firm Brewin Dolphin, up by more than 10% after a positive trading update.
The FTSE 100, which is largely composed of foreign companies that denominate their assets in dollars, also gained on the day, up by 0.37% to close at 6,749 points. The biggest single winner was housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, which gained more than 7% after an upbeat trading statement that suggested Brexit hasn't hit the company as hard as might have been expected, and that trading conditions are "encouraging."
Here's how the stock looked:
