With the FTSE 100 scaling dizzying new heights, our reporter James Connington investigates what will happen when interest rates rise:

Since the launch of the FTSE 100 in 1984, there have been seven occasions where the Bank of England made consecutive increases to the official rate, where the rate moved more than 1 percentage point in total.

To assess performance, we looked at the market's movement between Bank Rate's low prior to any increase, and its subsequent high point.

In five of the cases the market climbed.The three most notable increases saw the FTSE 100 gain 65pc, 57pc and 27pc, over four, two and one year time frames respectively.

The 65pc gain was made between 2003 and 2007, in the run up to the global financial crisis, as the Bank of England raised its rate from 3.5pc to 5.75pc.

Similarly, the 57pc gain was made between 1996 and 1998, in the run up to the tech bubble bursting - Bank Rate increased from 5.7pc to 7.5pc over this period.

The 27pc gain was made as part of the recovery of the stock market from the Black Monday crash of 1987.