FTSE 250 recovers all pandemic losses as confidence grows | Business

The FTSE 250, London’s leading domestically focused share index, recovered all of its pandemic losses yesterday as Boris Johnson confirmed that shops and pub gardens would reopen next week.

The index, home to companies such as Royal Mail and Marks & Spencer, rose by 1.2 per cent, or 262 points, to 21,994.48, its highest level since February last year, shortly before fears over the rapid spread of Covid-19 knocked stocks worldwide. The FTSE 250 is considered a better gauge of the health of the British economy than the FTSE 100, its internationally dominated sister index.

News that the reopening of retail outlets was on track gave leisure shares a particular lift, with C&C, the drinks group behind the Bulmers and Tennent’s brands, up 15¼p, or