If the rescue of Bear Stearns and the subsequent easing from the Federal Reserve prompted hopes that the stock market could draw a line under the credit crisis, they were dashed on Wednesday. A savage day in the commodities market, which saw gold and oil suffer their biggest daily falls in decades, pushed the S&P 500 back below the level it reached before the Bear crisis erupted last Friday.

But Wednesday’s Merrill Lynch survey of fund managers shows the preconditions may be in place for a bear market rally.