Investors who bought into the German market in March could be forgiven for thinking that they have rediscovered their golden touch. Since March 11, the DAX 30 has soared an astonishing 46.8%.

The German market may be an extreme case, but all the main European indices have posted gains of more than 20% since their lows in March during the Iraq war. As usual, the world's laggard is the Nikkei 225, which has only posted a 17% rise in the past few months.