Markets: positive news pushes FTSE 100 higher

FTSE 100 up 0.6% to 6,709

Gold up 0.9% to $1,196.99/oz

£/$ - 1.5633

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The FTSE 100 saw further gains yesterday, adding 0.6% after upbeat economic news and strong corporate results

Tullow Oil was the day's highest climber, up 3.6%. Other top performers included British Sky Broadcasting, which rose 3%, and Randgold, which was 2.5% higher.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 36 points to 4,262, and the German Xetra Dax added 150 points to 9,456.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 17,687, the S&P 500 gained 0.5% to 2,051, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.7% to 4,702.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.3% to 17,288, and the broader Topix rose 0.1% to 1,396. And in China, the Shanghai Composite and the CSI 300 each slipped 0.2% to 2,450 and 2,537 respectively.

Brent spot was trading at $78.30 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $73.99. Spot gold was trading at $1,199 an ounce, silver was at $16.23 and platinum was at $1,205.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5611 and against the euro at 1.2447. The dollar was trading at 0.7973 against the euro and 117.38 against the Japanese yen.

And today, Royal Mail reported a fall in profits for the first half of the year. Pre-tax profits for the six months to 28 September fell to £218m, down from £233m for the same period last year.

David Stevenson, former MoneyWeek writer and director of The Fleet Street Letter, believessilver could be about to start a record climb. Click here(capital at risk)to read about the three irresistible forces David believes could push the price of silver through the roof.