Slowing economic growth and a FTSE record high can coexist – here’s how

A stock market index is not a symbol of national economic virility, which is especially true for the FTSE. Photograph: Toru Hanai/Reuters

The UK will be the only G7 country to see its economy shrink this year, the International Monetary Fund predicted this week.

The stock market, on the other hand, is doing just fine. Almost five years after its last closing high, the FTSE 100 index hit a new one on Friday.