Here we go again. Any fleeting relief on Thursday from JPMorgan Chase’s fourth-quarter earnings, which met carefully-managed expectations, was quickly extinguished by a renewed stampede to sell bank stocks. Shares in European banks fell up to 10 per cent. In the US, Citigroup shares shed another fifth. Bank of America joined the panicked rout on news that it was close to agreeing another slug of government funds to help digest its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The question of banks’ survival is again uppermost in investors’ minds, feeding the market turmoil.

JPMorgan, from its position of relative strength, helped to underline the sector’s broader plight. The bank clawed its way into the black in the fourth quarter. Exposure to leveraged loans and mortgage securities are now down to $6.9bn and $14.7bn respectively, offering hope that writedowns there will start to ease. But losses on credit card lending are now expected to reach historic rates this year, which they could yet surpass. Washington Mutual’s loan portfolio may, too, begin to deteriorate beyond expectations at the time of the deal. The interplay between areas weakening and those starting to recover is a fine balance.