British stocks decreased on Thursday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index down by 0.26 percent, or 19.83 points, to close at 7,523.04 points.

Smurfit Kappa Group, a leading corrugated packaging company in Europe, soared 3.61 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Randgold Resources and Fresnillo increased by 1.77 percent and 1.21 percent, respectively.

The multinational consumer goods company Unilever was the worst performer among the blue chips, with its shares nosediving 5.49 percent. The British multinational advertising and public relations company WPP dropped 2.98 percent. Coca-Cola HBC, a leading bottler of the Coca-Cola Company, fell 2.04 percent.