Drugs and oil take FTSE higher

BP, the world's second-largest oil company, is up 1.2% to 659p. The company says 2005 profit from trading oil and natural gas rose 56% to $2.9bn as energy prices soared. Smith & Nephew, Europe's largest seller of orthopedic devices, has climbed 4.2% to 550p while shares of Hanson, the world's largest supplier of sand and gravel for building, have surged 12% to 831p. In Japan the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 80.68 points, or 0.5%, to 16,319.04 at its close a short while ago, paced by exporters such as Canon and Advantest, after a US retail sales report eased concern the Federal Reserve w...