British stocks closed flat on Thursday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index up by 0.06 percent, or 4.91 points, to close at 7,663.17 points.

British American tobacco, a British multinational tobacco company, soared 5.13 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Astrazeneca and Croda international increased by 4.19 percent and 3.15 percent respectively.

Schroders, a British multinational asset management company, was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 4.13 percent. Itv, a British media company, dropped 3.90 percent. Royal dutch shell plc-b, a British-Dutch multinational oil and gas company, fell 3.61 percent.