FTSE 100 Index, British benchmark stock market gauge, Thursday increased by 0.43 percent, or 28.58 points, to 6,685.26, as Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine.
Putin Thursday signalled he seeks to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine. In parallel, Finland's Prime Minister, Alexander Stubb, stated that the European Union is not considering further sanctions against Russia.
In other news, eurozone's gross domestic product remained stable in the second quarter of 2014, according to seasonally adjusted data released by Eurostat on Thursday.
German economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the quarter. France fared a little better, flatlining for the second successive quarter.
Petrofac's share price increased by 3.16 percent, topped the gainers of the blue chips. British Land Co PLC, Johnson Matthey, Land Securities Group, TUI Travel increased by 2.48 percent, 2.26 percent, 2.25 percent and 2.16 percent respectively.
While Admiral Group led the top losers of the blue chips with a share price drop of 2.99 percent, followed by G4S (2.52 percent), Kingfisher (1.86 percent), Rio Tinto (1.39 percent) and Glencore (1.33 percent).
The index has gained 1.87 percent so far this year when adjusted in U.S. dollar.