Markets: FTSE100 ends the week on a high

• FTSE 100 up 0.8% to 6,550
• Gold up 1.4% to $1,280.45/oz
• £/$ - 1.5150

Resources stocks were the top performers. BP took the top spot with a 5.3% rise, while Glencore, BG Group and Anglo American added between 5% and 3.8%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 gained 56 points to 4,379, and the German Xetra Dax rose 135 points to 10,167.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 17,511, the S&P 500 gained 1.3% to 2,019, and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.4% lower at 4,634.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% to 17,014, and the broader Topix index gained 0.6% to 1,372. And in China, the Shanghai Composite and the CSI 300 each slid 7.7% to 3,116 and 3,355 respectively.

Brent spot was trading at $49.58 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $48.00. Spot gold was trading at $1,277 an ounce, silver was at $17.73 and platinum was at $1,258.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5151 and against the euro at 1.3075. The dollar was trading at 0.8630 against the euro and 117.18 against the Japanese yen.

And in the UK, construction firm John Laing is to list itself on the stockmarket. The company, which concentrates on government infrastructure projects, many under public private partnership contracts, is hoping to raise £130m in an initial public offering.

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.