British stocks down 2.31 pct Thursday

LONDON, July 30 (Xinhua) -- British stocks decreased on Thursday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index down by 2.31 percent, or 141.47 points, to close at 5,989.99 points.

BAE Systems, a British multinational defence, security, and aerospace company, soared 5.89 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Rentokil Initial and AstraZeneca increased by 1.68 percent and 1.58 percent, respectively.

Lloyds Banking Group, a major British financial institution, was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 7.62 percent. Standard Chartered, a British multinational banking and financial services company, dropped 6.23 percent. Legal & General Group, a British multinational financial services company, fell 6.09 percent.