British stocks down 1.23 pct Thursday

LONDON, March 22 (Xinhua) -- British stocks decreased on Thursday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index down 86.38 points or 1.23 percent at 6,952.59 points.

Reckitt Benckiser Group, a British health, hygiene and home products producer, soared 4.78 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Coca-Cola HBC and Just Eat rose by 3.27 percent and 1.59 percent, respectively.

Micro Focus International, a British software and information technology business, was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 6.25 percent. Rio Tinto, the international mining group, dropped 3.53 percent. Glencore, a multinational commodity trading and mining company, dropped 3.22 percent. Enditem