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LONDON (Alliance News) - Investors on Wednesday were on OPEC watch and optimism that a deal could be reached was driving oil prices and London-listed equities higher.

The meeting between delegates of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries was underway in Vienna as the cartel tries to iron out details of production curbs agreed in September. OPEC planned on limiting total production to between 32.5 million and 33.0 million barrels per day.

Throughout Wednesday morning, there have been positive comments from oil ministers driving oil prices.

"I'm optimistic," said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, according to Reuters, adding there had been no request for Iran to cut output.

Iran said they should be exempt from any production quotas after years of losing market share due to sanctions. This was the main area of disagreement with rival Saudi Arabia which in the past insisted that Iran limits supply, but on Wednesday Saudi Arabia appeared to loosen this stance.

"Saudi Arabia appears willing to take 'a big hit' in slashing output but wants some cooperation from others if it is to do so. That would include a 600,000 barrels per day cut from non-OPEC, something Russia has said from the offset it won't contribute to," said Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets.

However, there was positive news on this front as well. Zanganeh said Russia has abandoned its previous stance and is ready to participate in limiting supply, according to a Bloomberg report.

"The Russian energy ministry, which met with our friends Algeria and Venezuela in Russia, changed their view and said they will cut their production," he said on Wednesday.

Brent oil prices broke the USD50 a barrel barrier for the first time in November. At midday, the North Sea benchmark traded at USD50.70 a barrel, much higher than the USD46.47 a barrel seen at the London stock market close on Tuesday.

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell was the best performer in the FTSE 100, with 'B' shares up 4.1% and 'A' shares up 3.7%. Fellow oil giant BP was up 2.9%.

Among mid-cap producers, Tullow Oil was up 10%, Cairn Energy up 4.8% and oil services company Petrofac was up 2.9%.

The FTSE 100 index as a whole traded up 0.9%, or 57.28 points, at 6,829.28. The FTSE 250 was up 0.3% at 17,585.51 and the AIM All-Share was up 0.1% at 819.37.

The BATS UK 100 index was up 0.8% at 11,544.47, the BATS 250 was up 0.4% at 15,960.01 and the BATS Small Companies was up 0.3% at 10,085.42.

European stock indices were also trading higher. The CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.2%.

Ahead of the open on Wall Street, futures pointed the DJIA and S&P 500 up 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 up 0.1%.

Elsewhere in London, Royal Bank of Scotland Group was the worst performer in the results of the Bank of England's latest round of stress tests, joined by Barclays and Standard Chartered in showing capital inadequacies in the scenario of a global economic downturn.

Top UK banks were set individual Common Equity Tier 1 ratios and Tier 1 leverage ratio hurdles, measures of their financial resilience. For the first time, banks were also set a systemic reference point, an additional threshold which takes into account the potential global consequences of a lender's collapse.

Under the stressed scenario, RBS's CET1 low point fell below its individual CET1 ratio and Tier 1 leverage ratio hurdles, as well as its systemic reference point. RBS noted that after the application of management actions and the conversion of Additional Tier 1 securities to capital, it reached its CET1 ratio hurdle, but remained below its systemic reference point and Tier 1 leverage ratio hurdle.

RBS was one of the worst performers in the FTSE 100, down 3.1%.

Barclays and Standard Chartered also showed weaknesses in the test. Barclays' Common Equity Tier 1 ratio fell below its systemic reference point, although after the conversion of additional securities to capital it then exceeded the target. Standard Chartered meanwhile was under its Tier 1 risk-weighted capital requirement when the additional regulatory capital targets were imposed.

However, neither Barclays nor Standard Chartered was required to submit a revised capital plan by the central bank, in light of ongoing capital strengthening plans at both banks. Barclays shares were down 0.3% at midday, while Standard Chartered was down 0.1%.

Playtech was the worst performer in the FTSE 250, down 8.0% to 848.00 pence after the online gaming software company said Brickington Trading sold a 12.0% stake in the company, ahead of the 10% originally planned, for GBP329.0 million.

The company had said late Tuesday that Brickington was planning to sell around 32.2 million shares, or an around 10% stake, via an accelerated bookbuild. Brickington sold 38.7 million shares at a price of 850p per share. It retains a 21.6% stake in Playtech.

RPC Group was up 7.5%. The plastic packaging maker said its pretax profit and revenue grew significantly in the first half of its financial year as it benefits from acquisitions it has made.

The company - which makes coffee capsules, vending cups, polythene films and packaging for food and beauty products - said it made a pretax profit of GBP72.5 million in the half-year to the end of September, up 79% from GBP40.5 million a year before.

Revenue increased to GBP1.23 billion from GBP800.0 million, up 53%, driven by the contributions from acquisitions, including French plastic closures and dispensing systems specialist GCS and polythene films firm British Polythene Industries.

Soft drinks maker Britvic reported 10% growth in both profit and revenue for its recently ended financial year and said it remains confident it will meet market expectations in the current year.

The mid-cap group, which makes Robinsons and J20 drinks, said its GB Carbs carbonated drinks business in the UK had a strong year, with like-for-like revenue growth of 5.3%, but its still drinks business had a more challenging time, though this improved in the second half of the year.

The company said it remains on track with its supply chain restructuring programme and said it has made continued progress in the US market with its Fruit Shoot brand. The stock was up 7.6%.

Zoopla Property Group's full-year results were also taken well by the market sending the stock up 6.9%. The property portal reported a 38% year-on-year increase in annual profit, raised its dividend, and took a step toward a further diversification of its operations.

Zoopla, which owns uSwitch and PrimeLocation in addition to its eponymous brand, declared a dividend for the year of 5.20 pence per share, up 49% from 3.50p the prior year.

The company also announced it has bought Technicweb, a cloud-based estate agency website design and hosting business.

Still ahead in the economic calendar, US ADP employment data are at 1315 GMT, the US Energy Information Administration's crude oil stocks are at 1530 GMT, while the Federal Reserve's Beige book is at 1900 GMT.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will be delivering a keynote speech in Madrid at 1245 GMT.

By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1

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