London-based hedge fund manger Crispin Odey has followed his high-profile US peers in reporting positive returns from investments in bank stocks this year but he has warned that the market rally will prove short-lived if governments withdraw economic support too soon.

Odey, who has also argued that rising bank valuations could herald a new bull market, said in a July performance report that his firm Odey Asset Management had made 5.01% over the month. This trailed the benchmark MSCI Europe index, which returned 8.93% over the same period.