It appears that rising interest rates are weighing heavily on many investors’ minds at the moment. In light of the recent stock market sell-off, CNBC cited “fears of rapidly rising interest rates” as a reason, while BBC said there were “concerns about rising interest rates.” So should you, as a stock market investor, fear climbing interest rates? Will higher interest rates hurt your portfolio? I’ll like to address these questions in this article. The state with interest rates now The Federal Funds Rate is the interest rate that banks charge to lend reserves (funds held at the Federal Reserve) to each other overnight. It is also the interest rate that the Federal Reserve, the US’s central bank, primarily influences. After keeping the Federal Funds Rate at near zero for years i