Italy’s inconclusive general election has plunged the eurozone back into uncertainty.

For weeks, investors had wrongly assumed that the centre-left coalition led by Pier Luigi Bersani would be able to form a government, perhaps in coalition with the centrist group around Mario Monti. But it was the comedian-cum-activist Beppe Grillo who had the last laugh. His Five Star Movement won an extraordinary 25 per cent of the national vote – falling just short of becoming Italy’s single largest party. While Mr Bersani’s Democrats took control of the lower house, the Senate has no overall majority. Markets reacted negatively to this uncertainty. Stocks in Milan fell sharply and the yields on 10-year government bonds hit a three-month high.

It would be wrong to interpret this result as a vote against the euro. True, the manifesto of Mr Grillo’s party calls for a referendum on the common currency.