Downhill. Uphill. Scary descent. Hard climb up the other side. The market is like a mountain stage of the Tour de France. That’s how Citigroup is describing the recent performance of the UK market to its clients.

As analogies go, it is not a bad one. After a nine-week run of losses, the FTSE 100 hit its lowest level in almost three years on July 16. It then bounced, rising almost 6 per cent on the back of better-than-expected results from US banks and a lower oil price before hitting a brick wall on Thursday.