FTSE 100 closes higher on Scottish referendum day

FTSE 100 Index, British benchmark stock market gauge, Thursday increased by 0.57 percent, or 38.39 points, to close at 6,819.29 points.
It was a strong finish for British markets on Thursday as investors await the outcome of the Scottish referendum, the result of which is due to be announced around 7:00 a.m. on Friday morning.
The Scottish vote on separating from the Britain began on Thursday morning with the result still too close to call given the recent momentum behind the pro-independence campaign in recent weeks.
Besides, Britain's retail sales volume increased by 3.9 percent in August 2014 compared with August 2013 and by 0.4 percent compared with July 2014, said Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday.
It was the 17th consecutive month of year-on-year growth that the statistics department had been recorded.
TUI Travel's share price increased by 4.66 percent, topping the gainers of the blue chips. Barratt Developments, Travis Perkins, Smiths Group, and Wolseley increased by 3.01 percent, 2.54 percent, 2.52 percent and 2.44 percent respectively.
Smiths Group led the top losers of the blue chips with a share price drop of 2.55 percent, followed by Unilever (2.35 percent), SABMiller (1.94 percent), Reckitt Benckiser Group (1.12 percent) and Intertek Group (0.81 percent).
The index has gained 4.21 percent so far this year when adjusted in U.S. dollar.