It was not the expected St Patrick’s Day Massacre. US stocks briefly fell into a bear market on Monday, as the S&P 500 dropped 20 per cent below the intra-day peak it hit last October, but then made a spirited attempt to shrug off the world financial system’s worst crisis in many decades.

The extent of the bad news following the crash of Bear Stearns was plain enough. It triggered an unprecedented run on the dollar.