If you’re riding the FTSE rebound you might still want to sell in May

When the FTSE100 fell close to 5,500 in February, we all said ‘Mr Bear is back’. On Tuesday the index hit a high for this year of 6,400, and we all wondered whether Mr Bear had done what I said he wouldn’t, and shuffled back to hibernation. But the truth is that shares have lately moved in parallel with the oil price, which has perked up partly for technical reasons including temporary curtailment of supply from Kuwait; and a major element of the FTSE recovery is in commodity stocks that had been wildly oversold. So we shouldn’t read any great swing of confidence into a market still 600 points down on a year ago. If, for example, you bought Rio Tinto on the strength of our Spectator Money tip in early March, you’re quids in by 15 per cent so far — but bearing in mind uncertainties ahead, from the Brexit vote to the rise of Trump, you might want to recall an old City adage: ‘Sell in May and go away.