Financial stocks advanced amid rumours that the US Congress would approve a rescue plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and a further boost was given to the market following Bank of America's second quarter results, which came in at the top of estimates.

In the UK, retail sales posted their sharpest drop for 22 years, with the value for June falling by 3.9 per cent. The decline has been attributed to soaring fuel and energy costs for most of the year as well as high food inflation.

Redhall Group, the Wakefield-based specialist engineering support services company, confirmed that it has signed two key contracts in the nuclear and chemicals markets.

The group has secured a £22m, four-year contract with Sellafield Limited to manufacture and supply specialist plant and equipment for the Thorp reprocessing facility.

Redhall has also signed a one-year contract, worth £10m, with Bluestar Fibres for the design, fabrication, and installation of a new carbon-fibre production unit on the Humber Bank.

Straight plc, the recycling products and services group, issued a profits warning and stated that unless there is a significant improvement in its retail trading conditions next quarter, the group's full-year performance is also likely to be well below market expectations.

Sales in the first half were £1.4m down, 46 per cent on the same period last year, and the board is undertaking a strategic review of its overall retained activity with a view to eliminating the losses accumulated in the first half of the year. The share price fell about 25 per cent following the profits warning.

Imperial Energy has announced the grant of a new long-term production licence and further exploration successes at its fields in western Siberia.

Results obtained on the well were successful and first oil from the Kiev Eganskoye field, through Imperial's recently constructed 152-kilometre pipeline, is expected this September.

SSP Holdings, the Halifax- based provider of business critical IT systems and services to the UK insurance industry, announced its preliminary results for the 12 months ending March 31 2008.

Revenue has increased by 67 per cent, to £64.4m, compared with £38.6m for the previous year, and profit before tax was up 38 per cent, to £8.8m, compared with £6.4m for 2007.

Executive chairman David Rasche reported that the acquisition of the Sirius business, announced this time last year, has been very successful and that the financial results were ahead of the board's expectations. The outlook for the business is positive both in the UK and overseas.

Gregory O'KeefeAssistant Director at Brewin Dolphin, Leeds