British stocks decreased on Friday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index down by 1.00 percent, or 74.64 points, to close at 7,368.37 points.

AstraZeneca, a multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company, soared 3.62 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Pearson and Diageo increased by 1.60 percent and 1.39 percent, respectively.

The multinational tobacco company British American Tobacco was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 6.80 percent. Imperial Brands, a British multinational tobacco company, dropped 3.79 percent. Johnson Matthey, a British speciality chemicals company, fell 3.65 percent.