LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's leading banking index (FTNMX8350) inched higher on Tuesday and recovered, in sterling terms, all of the losses it suffered in the aftermath of June's landmark vote in which the UK vote to leave the European Union.
The FTSE 350 Banks index (FTNMX8350) was up 0.3 percent higher at 3,412.48 points by 0705 GMT (3:05 a.m. EDT) after rising to as high as 3,421.97, surpassing its close of 3,411.75 points on June 23 for the first time since.
Gains on the index, however, have largely been driven by HSBC Holdings (L:HSBA) and Standard Chartered (L:STAN), which have large operations outside the UK and whose shares have handily outperformed their more domestic-focused peers.
Shares of Lloyds (L:LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (L:RBS) have lost nearly a quarter of their value since the Brexit vote.
The UK banking index remains down more than 10 percent year-to-date. In U.S. dollar terms the losses are double that because of the slump in the value of sterling.
In contrast, the blue-chip FTSE 100 (FTSE) is up around 9 percent so far in 2016, in sterling terms, and advanced to its highest level since June last year earlier in the week.