UK investment in the stock market is still subdued as uncertainty persists in the global markets after a ‘black Tuesday’ when the US Dow index had its worst day’s trading since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

A major ‘wobble’ in China hit the UK, US, Asian and European indexes, with the UK’s FTSE losing 1.9% in early trading today. About £65bn has been wiped off the market’s value and investors here are now seriously questioning the outlook for UK investment.

The main question in investors’ minds is how long the correction will last and whether the bull run of the past four years – a period of expansion and increasing values – has now ended.

“I see it as a temporary correction within a bull market,” said City analyst Colin Perry. “The scale of the damage since ‘Black Tuesday’ has been pretty severe but my own hopes for UK investment see a recovery being staged pretty soon.”

Perry’s analysis has discernible roots in market history, as last May a similar thing happened and 9% was wiped off the FTSE 100. Extremely high oil prices and political global instability combined to knock the markets for six, although they recovered quickly.