London open: Stocks move higher on oil price gains

Stocks in London began the session higher, with investors busy scanning the conflicting headlines coming out of Wednesday's OPEC meeting in Algeria ahead of a raft of US central bank speakers scheduled for later in the day.

As of 0840 BST on Wednesday the FTSE 100 was up 50 points to 6,857.28.

Worth noting, in an apparent conciliatory move Saudi Arabia's energy minister Khalid Al-Falih on Tuesday evening said Iran, Nigeria and Libya ought to be allowed to "produce at the maximum levels that makes sense".

Nevertheless, traders appeared to be wary about buying into the rhetoric coming out of Algiers.

"As always, it seems that a lack of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Iran is going to be responsible for any deal collapsing at the early stages, with tensions between the two remaining as high as ever," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda. "While I do think some progress has been made lately making a deal in the future more likely, the gap between them still appears to be quite significant.

"Until Iran is pumping at pre-sanction levels, or even at a slightly higher target, I think a deal will be difficult to come by. They may not entirely concede defeat today though, insisting that all members are willing to work together but a freeze or cut seems very unlikely."

European banks continued to be in focus, with news that FTSE 250 outfit Phoenix Group has agreed to buy Abbey Life from Deutsche Bank for £935m in cash, sending the German lender's stock higher early on.

As of 0813 BST shares in Deutsche Bank were up by 2.72% to €10.89.

There are no major UK data releases due. In the US, MBA mortgage applications are at 1200 BST and durable goods orders are at 1330 BST. Investors will also be eyeing a testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to the financial services committee on Capitol Hill, particularly following last week’s rate announcement.

In corporate news, Royal Bank of Scotland agreed to pay $1.1bn (£846) to settle two legal claims that it allegedly mis-sold mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

The settlements, involving its subsidiary RBS Securities, are with the National Credit Union Administration Board, which regulates credit unions, but does not include lawsuits with the US Department of Justice and the Federal Housing Finance agency.

Trading at TUI was in-line with the company´s expectations, the travel operator said in a pre-close trading update. For the year to 18 September, the tourism group reported a 1% year-on-year increase in total revenues, alongside flat average selling prices.

Management expressed confidence in its ability to deliver full-year underlying growth in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of between 12% and 13%. Results for the full-year were scheduled to be released on 8 December.

Sainsbury blamed food deflation for a fall in like-for-like sales in the second quarter, masking the growth in transactions and volumes in the period.

Total retail sales fell 0.4% in the 16 weeks to 24 September, including the completion of the Argos acquisition on the second of the month, with like-for-like retail sales down 1.1%.

Smiths Group reported a drop in profits for the year to the end of July as its John Crane division suffered on the back of tough conditions in the global energy market.

The company said it expects a broad continuation of the trends experienced in 2016, with ongoing challenges in John Crane’s end markets offset by moderate underlying revenue growth in its other divisions.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,839.35 0.47%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,702.37 0.42%
techMARK (TASX) 3,485.54 0.31%

FTSE 100 - Risers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,118.00p 2.95%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,427.00p 2.88%
Anglo American (AAL) 935.20p 2.01%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,509.00p 1.99%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,813.00p 1.63%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,095.00p 1.62%
Sky (SKY) 860.50p 1.53%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,237.00p 1.48%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,521.00p 1.40%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,642.00p 1.36%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 573.80p -0.57%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,124.00p -0.37%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,592.00p -0.27%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 367.70p -0.24%
Centrica (CNA) 223.10p -0.22%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,976.50p -0.09%
Diageo (DGE) 2,213.50p -0.07%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,755.00p -0.06%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,670.00p -0.06%
Polymetal International (POLY) 960.50p -0.05%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 848.50p 4.05%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,041.00p 3.27%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 172.30p 3.24%
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) 969.50p 2.70%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 220.80p 2.08%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 212.00p 1.92%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 477.90p 1.90%
esure Group (ESUR) 306.30p 1.86%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 258.60p 1.85%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 281.10p 1.74%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 137.90p -3.97%
ICAP (IAP) 460.40p -3.62%
DFS Furniture (DFS) 247.30p -3.25%
Ascential (ASCL) 265.00p -2.07%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 260.30p -2.07%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 206.50p -1.67%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 222.80p -1.46%
Marshalls (MSLH) 273.90p -1.37%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 679.00p -1.31%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 311.20p -1.11%