London open: Stocks nudge up as investors eye OPEC; banks in focus

Stocks in London were just a touch firmer in early trade as investors digested the results of the latest Bank of England stress tests and kept an eye on the OPEC meeting in Vienna.

At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% to 6,788.08. Meanwhile, oil prices rallied amid growing expectations that the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will be able to agree on a production cut at their meeting in Vienna later.

Oil prices shot up after Iran’s oil minister, Bijan Zanganeh, said he reckoned a deal could be reached, although an immediate freeze by Iran wasn’t on the agenda.

West Texas Intermediate was up 1.4% to $45.88 a barrel and Brent crude was 1.6% firmer at $47.10.

Banks were in focus following the results of the Bank of England’s latest stress tests. State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland performed the worst and has been forced to submit plans to raise fresh capital, while rivals Barclays and Standard Chartered failed requirements but will not require extra funds.

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.

RBS shares fell 2.5%, while Barclays nudged up 0.1% and StanChart slipped 0.4%.

Elsewhere, Zoopla gained ground after reporting a rise in full-year profit and revenue and announcing the acquisition of estate agency website design and hosting business Technicweb.

IG Group ticked higher after it said trading in the second quarter has continued to be in line with its expectations.

Pub group Greene King edged lower despite posting a jump in interim profit, while gambling software company Playtech slumped after its founder sold a 12% stake for £329m.

Investors were also mulling over the latest survey from market research firm GfK, which showed UK consumer and business confidence fell further in November amid worries about the impact of the Brexit vote.

GfK’s long-running consumer confidence index fell five points to -8, missing expectations of a decline to -4.

Joe Staton, head of Market Dynamics at GfK, said: “The slump across the board this month points to continuing uncertainty about the state of the economy among consumers. Although scores for our personal financial situation just about remain positive, the big theme is the reduced confidence in the UK economy looking back and ahead. We are viewing our economy over the past 12 months with increasing despondency. The decreasing score on the economy for the next 12 months also shows we are resolutely gloomy about the outlook despite strong GDP numbers.”

There are no major UK data releases due, but in the US, the ADP employment report is at 1315 GMT, while the Chicago PMI is at 1445 GMT and pending home sales are at 1500 GMT.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,775.94 0.06%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,539.12 0.04%
techMARK (TASX) 3,281.40 0.19%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,534.00p 1.52%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 58.50p 1.37%
Centrica (CNA) 212.30p 1.19%
BT Group (BT.A) 358.55p 1.19%
CRH (CRH) 2,673.00p 1.17%
Pearson (PSON) 787.00p 1.09%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,804.00p 1.01%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,063.00p 0.95%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,581.00p 0.94%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 706.00p 0.86%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Capita (CPI) 536.00p -3.86%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,166.00p -3.20%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,988.50p -2.56%
Glencore (GLEN) 274.85p -2.31%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 192.60p -2.23%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,285.50p -2.13%
easyJet (EZJ) 999.50p -1.14%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,251.00p -0.94%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,457.00p -0.72%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,805.00p -0.68%

FTSE 250 - Risers

RPC Group (RPC) 1,072.00p 6.99%
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 276.20p 5.06%
Britvic (BVIC) 574.00p 4.74%
Zoopla Property Group (ZPLA) 332.20p 4.14%
Card Factory (CARD) 257.10p 3.92%
Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 455.10p 3.67%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,041.00p 3.07%
Genus (GNS) 1,910.00p 2.58%
AO World (AO.) 166.50p 2.52%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 353.70p 2.52%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Playtech (PTEC) 848.50p -7.97%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 831.00p -3.37%
Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,407.00p -2.56%
Marshalls (MSLH) 291.70p -2.54%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 355.30p -2.47%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 290.00p -2.06%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 158.80p -1.98%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 393.60p -1.94%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 212.70p -1.62%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 396.50p -1.61%