RBS fails stress test, Sage sales beat forecasts
London open
The FTSE 100 index is forecast to drop six points on Wednesday, according to sources in the City.
Stocks to watch
With the worst performance of the high street banks in the 2016 UK stress tests, Royal Bank of Scotland has been forced to submit plans to raise fresh capital, while rivals Barclays and Standard Chartered failed requirements but will not require extra funds. State-owned RBS failed to pass all the hurdles of the stress test and has agreed a revised capital plan with the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority to raise at least £2bn of extra capital.
Sage Group’s revenue for the year ended 30 September rose 9.3% to £1.569bn compared to last year as it continues its commercial transformation. While pre-tax profit slipped 0.4% to £275m, operating profit nudged up 1.1% to £300m.
Vodafone and Singapore's StarHub have renewed their partnership for a further three years, to provide mobile connectivity in the region. For the last five years the partnership focused on delivering communication services for multinational corporations in Singapore.
Newspaper round-up
European leaders have quashed an attempt by Theresa May to secure an early agreement to guarantee the status after Brexit of EU nationals living in the UK and vice versa. Angela Merkel insisted there could be no side deals before Britain starts formal EU exit negotiations next year, a view backed by European Council president Donald Tusk. – Financial Times
National Grid is investigating whether a boat’s anchor is to blame for knocking out half the capacity from a crucial power link beneath the English Channel — threatening further increases to electricity prices in the UK this winter. Four of eight cables running along the seabed between Folkestone and Calais were damaged during Storm Angus — the first named storm of the season — earlier this month. – Financial Times
Motorists could see the price of foreign cars jump by £1,500 if Britain fails to agree a deal on trade tariffs when it leaves the European Union. The warning came from Gareth Jones, president of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, as he predicted a potential £4.5bn bill for the automotive industry and consumers from Brexit. – Telegraph
The energy regulator has chosen Co-operative Energy – a company that last month paid out £1.8m compensation to customers – to take over the supply GB Energy’s gas and electricity customers. Ofgem has been working behind the scenes since GB Energy’s collapse at the weekend to appoint a “supplier of last resort” to take over all of the company’s 160,000 customers. - Guardian
US close
Encouraging economic data helped eclipse a sharp drop in oil prices to help US stocks inch higher on Tuesday, though investors continued to hang on every word emanating around the meeting of major oil producing countries in Vienna.
The Dow Jones closed up 23.70 points or 0.12% to 19,121.60, with the S&P adding 2.94 or 0.13% to 2,204.66 and the Nasdaq composite topping the 5,400 intra-day high but closing at 5,379.92 for a gain of 11.11 points or 0.21%.
As Wednesday's Opec meeting dominated headlines, oil prices slid as non-member Russia confirmed it will not attend the cartel’s meeting in the Austrian capital, although it said a meeting of the group and non-affiliated producers could take place at a later stage.