LONDON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- British stocks decreased on Thursday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index down 24.47 points or 0.32 percent at 7,700.96 points.

Hargreaves Lansdown, the British financial service company, soared 4.32 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Evraz and Whitbread rose by 4.10 percent and 3.45 percent, respectively.

The British multinational food processing and retailing company Associated British Foods was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 3.57 percent. Randgold Resources, a major multinational metal company, dropped 2.18 percent. The international private hospital group Mediclinic International dropped 2.07 percent. Enditem