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Nationwide customers have been taking part in this year's Black Friday feeding frenzy, spending £33.9m between midnight and 10:00 am today, a spokesman said - working out at about £54,000 per minute.

More than 630,35 transactions took place in this period, up about 62% on a normal Friday and 40% more than last Black Friday, he said.

Nationwide head of payments Paul Horlock said: "Everyone loves a bargain, so it’s no surprise that we are seeing a large boost in spending today... If spending continues at its current rate it looks like it will be another record year for Black Friday sales, even though deals started earlier than ever before this year."

Katie Evans, of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, warns that flash sales can encourage us "to purchase immediately, rather than reflecting on whether you really need to buy a product and if you can afford it". 

She adds:

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Tokyo's main share index the Nikkei 225  index closed at an 11-month high on Friday.

And again it's the sharp drop in the yen that's being given the credit - making exports more competitive and profitable. 

So why is the yen dropping? Well it's one of a string of currencies that has fallen against the dollar - on predictions that we'll see a US rate rise by the end of the year,

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John Lewis says it is receiving five orders per second on its website today, with Black Friday set to be one of its "busiest shopping periods".

Sales through mobile phones saw a particular increase with a 21% spike between 8am and 9am, it said.

The most popular products being sold today include:

• The Sonos Play 1 speaker (selling "one every ten seconds")
• The Lego Simpsons House 
• Marc Jacobs perfume
• Sophie Conran crockery - its best-selling homeware product

Black Friday as a shopping extravaganza has spread around the world, external from the US to countries including Romania, France and India, normally as part of marketing efforts by online retailers.

It has also spread to Iran, the Guardian reports, external, with online shopping website Bamilo offering discounts for goods including iPhone 7 smartphones.

Bamilo is calling it 'Harajome' or Friday sale. We're guessing the name 'Black Friday' could have more sombre overtones in Iran - it's the name given to a pivotal massacre in 1978 that happened during the Iranian revolution.

Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

Thousands of shoppers have hit the high street in Greece as the country holds its first ever Black Friday sale.

According to AFP, there were queues outside department stores in major cities like Athens and roads blocked near malls with many shops opening as early at 6am.

So far there have been no major disturbances or fights occasionally seen at such promotions abroad. 

But Greek retail groups have expressed scepticism about the promotion which, they say, threatens to undermine small business owners struggling in the current economic climate. 

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The Professional Pilots Union (PPU) is set to hold a ballot for industrial action which may see Virgin Atlantic flights affected over Christmas and the New Year period. 

The vote, which follows the collapse of union recognition talks, will close on 16 December, with action potentially kicking off on 23 December and lasting throughout the festive season.

The PPU it would be "short of a strike", instead encompassing "withdrawal of pilot goodwill" such as agreeing to work overtime.

This would nonetheless leave a "significant number of flights not covered for the duration of any action", it added.  

UK business investment increased at a quarterly rate of 0.9% in the three months to September, the Office for National Statistics has estimated, external.

The volume was up from £43.8bn to £44.2bn, beating expectations for a 0.6% rise in a Reuters poll of economists.

The ONS said: "This business investment release covers... the first full quarter since the EU referendum. 

"Since the result, business investment has grown broadly in line with the previous quarter. This suggests limited impact so far from the referendum."

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BBC Radio 4

The OBR has caught some flack from pro-Leave Conservative MPs over its economic forecast of more government borrowing and reductions in economic growth after the Brexit vote.

MP Jacob Rees-Mogg is among others who have said the Office for Budget Responsibility is wrong in its predictions because its calculations assume that the UK will maintain the existing trade tariffs when Britain leaves the European Union. 

However, OBR chief Robert Chote tells Today that it can only work on the basis of the "information we’ve got at the moment".

“We’re being slightly more optimistic than the average of outsiders at the moment," he says. "There are people who think we’re being not optimistic enough, there are people who think we’re being too optimistic. We need the policy [on Brexit] to clarify itself; we also shouldn’t delude ourselves that it’s going to clarify itself very quickly.”

UK GDP is estimated to have increased by 0.5% between the second and third quarters, the Office for National Statistics says, external, which is unrevised from a preliminary estimate published in October.

Nationwide credit and debit card customers have hiked Black Friday spending so far today, the building society says.

Between midnight and 8:30 today Nationwide customers have spent £16.3m - around £32,000 a minute - which is up on 2015’s figures, a spokesman said.

Over 400,000 transactions have been completed in this time, which is an increase of about 50% from a normal Friday and 27% up on last Black Friday, he added.     

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BBC Radio 4

Image source, DPD

Parcel delivery firm DPD has hired 1,000 more drivers especially for the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

Over the weekend the firm says it will deliver 300,000 items - while next Tuesday that'll rise to four million as online orders are dispatched. 

"This is the biggest weekend of the year for us. We love online shopping in the UK, there is no point resisting it," says Steve Woodman, director of UK Operations at DPD.

It is challenging, he adds, "but we have been planning for it for a year".

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The Icelandic government is taking legal action against UK supermarket chain, Iceland, in a trademark dispute.

The Nordic nation wants to ensure that its own companies can use the name Iceland to promote their goods.

The retailer said it had been using the name for 46 years without "any serious confusion or conflict" for the public. 

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London's FTSE 100 opened above 6,800 for the third consecutive day, and is currently trading 0.19%, or 13.24 points, higher at 6,842.44.

Among the top risers are miners Rio Tinto, up 1.8%, and BHP Billiton, up 1.07%. 

Connor Campbell, an analyst at Spreadex, says: "Despite competition from the retail-Mecca of Black Friday, the undoubted focus this Friday morning is on the UK’s second estimate Q3 GDP reading. 

"While today’s growth-glimpse is expected to remain unchanged at 0.5%, that news in and of itself might be enough to boost the markets following the gloomy forecasts set out for the next few years in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement."

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BBC Radio 4

Image source, Skyscanner/ BBC

The acquisition of Skyscanner by Ctrip announced this week was a "positive sign", says Hussein Kanji of Hoxton Ventures, a venture capital firm.

Chinese firms typically do not buy companies outside China, and when they do they target the US.

But he says the UK government could do more to help tech companies grow and remain UK-owned. 

The key ingredients for success are an open immigration policy - so tech firms can attract talent - and funding so they can keep growing.

He welcomes the government's plan to increase its funding for UK start-ups as part of Wednesday's Autumn Statement, but notes that the European Investment Fund - which is run by the EU - is still the biggest investor in British start-ups.

The hope, he suggests, is that the government is preparing to fill this gap post-Brexit.