Markets: FTSE 100 puts in a strong performance

• FTSE 100 up 2% to 6,466
• Gold up 0.76% to $1,198.72/oz
• £/$ - 1.5670

FTSE 100

Financial stocks were among the best performers. Insurer Old Mutual was the highest climber with a 5.7% rise, while Aberdeen Asset Management gained 5.6% and Admiral added 4.3%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 138 points to 4,249, and the German Xetra Dax gained 267 points to 9,811.

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In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each gained 2.4% to 17,778 and 2,061 respectively, and the Nasdaq Composite was 2.2% higher at 4,748.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 2.4% to 17,621. The broader Topix also gained 2.4% to 1,409. And in China, the Shanghai Composite added 1.7% to 3,108, and the CSI 300 was 1.1% higher at 3,383.

Brent spot was trading at $59.42 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $54.45. Spot gold was trading at $1,197 an ounce, silver was at $15.93 and platinum was at $1,194.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5674 and against the euro at 1.2759. The dollar was trading at 0.8140 against the euro and 119.31 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, house prices are growing faster in provincial cities than in the capital, according to the latest data from Hometrack. Prices in London grew by just 0.5% in the last quarter, while those in Edinburgh rose by 1.8%. Glasgow and Southampton grew by 0.9%, and Bristol and Birmingham by 0.6%.

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.