For much of 2012, the UK’s FTSE 100 index traded in a 500-point range. Many traders complained that such relatively directionless markets limited their scope for gains. Spread betting firms and interdealer brokers bemoaned the lack of volatility and volume. There are fewer such complaints now. Stock markets in particular seem to be heading inexorably higher. Most of the world’s developed markets have put on around 10 per cent in the past three months, building on a rally that began last autumn.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has set a new all-time high, as has the UK’s mid-cap index. Fiscal cliffs, sequesters and ambiguous election results have not succeeded in delaying the upward march of share prices.

These rallies are partly based on an improving economic backdrop, with recent US economic data in particular coming in better than expected. But mostly, they are driven by central banks.