Footsie recovers to pre-Lehman collapse level

Britain’s blue chip stocks reached a landmark today as the FTSE 100 Index recovered to the level seen before the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

A fifth straight day of gains helped the Footsie close up 35.2 points to 5437.6 - above the close of 5416.7 recorded on the last trading day before Lehman went under in September 2008 and triggered the global financial crisis.