British stocks down 0.57 Thursday

LONDON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- British stocks decreased on Thursday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index down 43.16 points, or 0.57 percent, to close at 7,490.39 points.

ITV, a British media company, soared 3.5 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Smurfit Kappa Group and 3i Group rose by 2.43 percent and 2.15 percent, respectively.

Vodafone Group, a British multinational telecommunications company, was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 4.54 percent. Royal Dutch Shell B, a major oil and gas company, dropped 2.54 percent. RELX, a information solution provider dropped 2.44 percent. Enditem