LONDON, Sept 15 — Britain’s top equity index slipped today, with home improvements retailer Kingfisher retreating after a fall in first-half adjusted pre-tax profits.

Many investors were also refraining from buying up big positions before a US Federal Reserve meeting on Sept. 17 at which it will decide on whether or not to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index declined by 0.3 per cent to 6,066.88 points.

Kingfisher fell 2.6 per cent, but credit information company Experian advanced 0.9 per cent after HSBC upgraded it to “buy” from “hold”.

Gerren O’Neill, senior trader at Thames Capital Markets, expected the FTSE to make little progress before the Fed meeting.

He added that a decision to raise rates could push the FTSE down to 5,800-6,000 points, while a decision against raising rates could lift the FTSE up to 6,200.

“We are expecting consolidation going into the Federal Reserve meeting,” he said.

The FTSE hit a record high of 7,122.74 points in April but has since been hit by signs of an economic slowdown in China and the prospect of a Fed rate rise.

A US rate hike could put pressure on the Bank of England to follow suit. Higher rates often hurt stock markets by boosting the appeal of bonds and cash, where returns have been hit by the record low interest rates set by major world central banks since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The FTSE is down by around 8 per cent since the start of 2015. — Reuters