British stocks down slightly Wednesday

LONDON, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- British stocks decreased on Wednesday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index down by 0.05 percent, or 3.90 points, to close at 7,496.51 points.

Hargreaves Lansdown, the British financial service company, soared 4.44 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Glencore and BAE Systems increased by 1.89 percent and 1.80 percent, respectively.

The British industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 5.39 percent. Centrica, a British multinational utility company, dropped 3.66 percent. Shire, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, dropped 2.21 percent. Enditem