The credit markets are trying to convince themselves that the worst is over. But wisely they are keeping the champagne on ice. For if the subprime cancer may have been checked, the chemotherapy is still going on. On Tuesday there were more stark reminders that no one is in remission yet.

Crédit Agricole, France’s biggest retail bank, gave the markets an unexpected and unwelcome jolt by confirming a €5.9bn ($9bn) rights issue to bolster its capital base after suffering further writedowns at its Calyon investment banking unit. That follows the recent €5.5bn rights issue of domestic rival Société Générale. And SocGen itself on Tuesday also announced an extra €1.2bn in writedowns, although it sought to put on a brave face by suggesting that it was starting to bounce back after having been hit by the biggest rogue trading scandal in banking history.