British stocks close flat Thursday

British shares closed flat on Thursday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index up by 0.02 percent, or 1.39 points, to close at 7,386.63 points.

Fresnillo, a Mexican-based precious metals mining company, soared 5.03 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Randgold Resources and Standard Chartered increased by 3.62 percent and 2.46 percent, respectively.

The British pharmaceutical company Hikma Pharmaceuticals was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 8.23 percent. The British telecom group BT Group dropped 4.50 percent. ITV, a British broadcast company, fell 3.67 percent. Endit