LONDON, March 7 (Xinhua) -- British stocks rose on Wednesday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 Index up 11.09 points, or 0.16 percent, to close at 7,157.84 points.

Rolls-Royce Holdings, a British pre-eminent engineering company, soared 11.46 percent, the top gainer of the blue chips. Smurfit Kappa Group and Evraz rose by 5.79 percent and 3.50 percent, respectively.

WPP, the British multinational advertising and public relations company, was the worst performer in the blue chips, with its shares losing 3.89 percent.

Paddy Power Betfair, a large British bookmaking business, dropped 3.41 percent. NMC Health, the multinational health care company, dropped 2.50 percent. Enditem