Britain’s benchmark equity index edged lower on Friday, putting it on track for its first monthly fall in over a year as uncertainty over future central bank stimulus dented sentiment.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which raced to a 13-year high of 6,875.62 points in late May, was down by 0.1 per cent, or 5.51 points, at 6,237.89 points in mid-session trade.

This year’s global equity rally has come to a halt in the last month due to increasingly-clear signs that the US Federal Reserve will scale back the economic stimulus measures that have helped drive stock markets higher. The FTSE 100 is up by around 6 per cent since the start of 2013, but many traders have cashed in profits.

“A few days of gains doesn’t really remove the feeling that the optimistic outlook which drove the first-half rally is now permanently broken,” said IG market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

“As the third quarter dawns, it is likely that fears about Fed tapering will resume their place at the forefront of investors’ minds.”

The FTSE 100 has enjoyed its longest run of monthly gains since the mid-1990s, but that was set to end on Friday with a first loss in 13 months.

Mining stocks were among the worst performers as the sector was hit by a fresh fall in the price of gold, with Fresnillo falling 2.6 per cent to top the FTSE 100 loserboard.