British stocks down 0.25 pct Wednesday

LONDON, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- British stocks decreased on Wednesday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index down by 0.25 percent, or 18.87 points, to close at 7,525.22 points.

Mondi, an international packaging and paper group, soared 2.57 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Rio Tinto and Anglo American increased by 1.80 percent and 1.71 percent, respectively.

NMC Health, a private healthcare services, was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 4 percent. British American Tobacco, a British multinational tobacco company, dropped 1.50 percent. Shire, a global biopharmaceutical company, fell 1.44 percent. Enditem