Britain's mid-cap equity index falls, underperforms blue-chips

LONDON, July 6 (Reuters) - Britain's mid-cap share index fell on Wednesday, underperforming gains on the blue-chip index, with domestically-focused property and banking stocks falling on concerns about the impact from Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

The FTSE 250 mid-cap index was down 0.4 percent in early dealings, with shares in property-related companies Redrow , Bovis Homes (LSE: BVS.L - news) and Zoopla Property (LSE: ZPLA.L - news) falling 3.5 to 4.1 percent.

Mid-cap financial stocks such as Metro Bank and Shawbrook were down 7 percent and 3.6 percent respectively.

However, the blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent, with a slump in sterling to a new 31-year low against the U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . dollar seen as helping the internationally-exposed FTSE 100 index's export-oriented companies.

While the FTSE 100 has partially recovered and is up about 4 percent since June 23 - the date of the EU referendum - it remains down about 10 percent in U.S. dollar terms, as the slump in sterling has reduced the dollar value of the British market.

The mid-cap index has fallen 10 percent during the period in sterling terms. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)