LONDON, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- British stocks rose on Friday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index closing at a new high, up 64.89 points or 0.85 percent at 7,687.77 points.

Old Mutual, an international investment and banking group, soared 6.80 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Fresnillo and Just Eat increased by 2.81 percent and 2.76 percent, respectively.

The Europe's leading home improvement retailer Kingfisher was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 1.97 percent. Berkeley Group Holdings, a property development company, dropped 0.90 percent. WPP, the British multinational advertising and public relations company, dropped 0.74 percent. Enditem