Profit rise for Woolworths lifts FTSE

Woolworths rose 2p to 42.5p. The discount retailer's second-half earnings increased 29% to £70.3m. Barratt gained 19.5p to 612.5p. The homebuilder reported that fiscal first-half net income rose 35% from a year earlier to £101.9m as demand for new homes lifted prices. Lloyds TSB Group added 2p to 411.75p after an analyst at HSBC lifted the stock to "add" from "reduce". Legal & General Group advanced 2.25p to 95.5p. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 83.9 points to 11,364.99 earlier today, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 89.77 points to 12,678.13. In the US, tradi...