Barely a day goes by at the moment without one company or another tapping their shareholders for cash. In the past week alone GKN, Holidaybreak, J Sainsbury, Marston’s and Punch Taverns have raised a total £1.4bn to either pay down debt or fund expansion plans.

Predictably this “dash for cash”, or re-equitisation as equity capital markets bankers prefer to call it, has unnerved some investors, who think this new supply of equity could swamp the market. But just how likely is this? Could these cash calls stall the rally that started in March, or worse still sink it?