Markets continue rebound from post-Brexit shock

Stock markets continued to rally from their post-Brexit losses as they posted a second straight days of gains.

On Wednesday, the S&P/TSX composite index rose by 194.05points to finish at 14,036.74.

Twelve of the 13 subgroups closed higher, led by metals andmining at 577.09 points, up 22.50 points, or 4.06 per cent.Consumer staples was the only decliner, losing 0.13 of a point,or 0.03 per cent, to 501.39 points.

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After the shock of the result of theBrexitvote knocked more than 441 points off the S&P/TSX composite, thesubsequent two-day reboundhas returned almost 347 points.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 284 points, or 1.6 percent, to 17,694, while the broader S&P 500 indexgained 34 points, or 1.7 percent, to 2,070.The Nasdaq composite index climbed 87 points, or 1.9 per cent, to4,779.

U.S. bank stocks, which had been pounded following the Brexit vote, led the market on Wednesday, with Citigroup posting a gain of 4per cent.

Following last Thursday's referendum that saw a majority of British voters say they wanted out of the European Union, the devastating market reaction wiped out an estimated $3 trillion US in two days.

In the U.K., the FTSE100 closed Wednesdayat 6,360.06,up 219.67 points from its previous finish.Germany's DAX gained1.7 per cent, while France's CAC 40 added 2.6 per cent.

Oil, loonie higher

The Canadian dollar added 0.35of a cent to reach 77.07cents US. The euro and the British pound were higher against the U.S. dollar.

The Augustcontract for light sweet crude surged $2.03 to settle at$49.88 US per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Analysts pointed to a bigger-than-expected draw in U.S. crude supplies reported Wednesday by theU.S. Energy Information Administration. Supplies fell by 4.05 million barrels, which was more than the drop of 2.4 million barrels that analysts polled by Reuters had been forecasting.

"It's not that surprising considering where we are in the summer with gasoline demand doing very well," said James Bambino, managing editorof Platts' Oilgram Price Report.