FTSE powers ahead

Rolls-Royce has gained 13.5p, or 3.2%, to 435p after it said first-half profit surged as the company provided more spare parts and repairs. Shell has added 25p, or 1.3%, to £18.97. It said second-quarter profit climbed 40% to $7.32bn as higher crude prices more than compensated for production losses in Nigeria. BP has also climbed 4p, or 0.6%, to 638.5p. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 295.71 points, or 2%, to 15,179 points after Matsushita Electric Industrial raised its first-half profit forecast and Honda Motor posted better-than-expected earnings. Matsushita, th...