ARENDAL, Norway, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Norway’s $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, posted a profit for the first half of the year on Wednesday as the value of its equities portfolio surged. The fund earned a return on investment of 990 billion Norwegian crowns ($111 billion) in the January-June period, 0.28 percentage point higher than the fund’s benchmark index. ($1 = 8.9129 Norwegian crowns) Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.