FTSE 100 slides ahead of U.S. interest rate decision

The loss to the unidentified trader behind the transaction was estimated at around £500,000 on the basis of volumes traded on the London Stock Exchange.

British American Tobacco had risen by 1.31 per cent by mid-morning, after Panmure Gordon reaffirmed their buy rating, while Smiths Group saw the price of their stock tumble by 4.3 per cent after RBC Capital reiterated an underperform rating. Traders blamed the effect of Rotork’s update.

“Engineers, especially those operating in the oil and gas sector, have a grim outlook given weaker oil prices”. The company said operating profit at its resort theme parks division may continue to be hurt in 2016 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/merlin-rollercoaster- crash-to-affect-2016-profit-2015-09-17) by the roller-coaster crash at Britain’sAlton Towers in June.

The FTSE 100 index has lost 7.04 percent so far this year.

Engineering and support services company Babcock worldwide fell 2.5 per cent. Exane BNP Paribas cut its target price for the stock to 900 pence from 1,050 pence, saying “we are becoming increasingly concerned about the earnings risk profile”.

Britain’s blue-chip index has been trading marginally in the red in today’s session, with investors staying on the sidelines ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate decision, due to be announced later today, after the United Kingdom market closes.

The wider FTSE index ultimately ended the day 82 points lower, or down 1.3%, at 6,104. The central bank had earlier this year been expected to raise interest rates for the first time in September, signalling an end to the extraordinary monetary policy post-credit crisis.

“Given the global headwinds, the last thing we need right now was a hike in rates and any kind of hawkish projections”, said Brian Dolan, head market strategist at DriveWealth in Chatham, New Jersey.

He pointed to a divide between market pricing which suggests no more than a 30 percent probability of a rate hike and the independent economic forecasting community which has been split nearly 50-50.