Markets: late rally pushes FTSE 100 into positive territory

• FTSE 100 up 0.1% to 6,865
• Gold down 0.35% to $1,264.81/oz
• £/$ - 1.5328

BT's confirmation that it is to buy EE sent its shares up by 4.5%. And Tullow Oil bounced back from Wednesday's losses to become the day's highest climber, rising 5.6%.

In European markets, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.2% to 4,703, and the German Xetra Dax slipped six points to 10,905.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2% to 17,884, the S&P 500 gained 1% to 2,062, and the Nasdaq Composite was 1% higher at 4,765.

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Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.8% to 17,648, and the broader Topix index rose 0.5% to 1,417. And in China, the Shanghai Composite slid 1.9% to 3,075, and the CSI 300 fell 1.6% to 3,312.

Brent spot was trading at $57.43 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $51.30. Spot gold was trading at $1,267 an ounce, silver was at $17.20 and platinum was at $1,251.

In the forex markets this morning, sterling was trading against the US dollar at 1.5317 and against the euro at 1.3380. The dollar was trading at 0.8735 against the euro and 117.35 against the Japanese yen.

And today, Tate & Lyle has issued its third profit warning in a year. The company said that an oversupply in the sweetener market means profits would be "modestly below" its last estimate of between £230m and £245m.

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.