Image source, Getty Images

M&S chief executive Steve Rowe, said the company had improved the ranges, availability and better prices in its clothing and homeware business which "helped to improve our performance in a difficult marketplace".

He added: "We also continued to substantially reduce discounting, including over Black Friday." 

However Mr Rowe warned: “As we look forward, our Q4 reported numbers will be adversely affected by sale timing and a later Easter."

Here's what Tesco boss Dave Lewis has to say about the supermarket's third-quarter and Christmas trading updates:, external

Independent retail analyst Steve Dresser tweets:

Luke Tugby from Retail Week tweets:

In the key Christmas period, Tesco said food sale rose 1.3%, adding that there was a "significant market performance in fresh food". Sales of clothes and toys rose 4.3% and 8.5% respectively.

Image source, Reuters

Tesco has posted another, external rise in like-for-like sales, with 0.3% growth over the six-week Christmas period. Britain's biggest retailer also saw 1.5% growth in the 13 weeks to the end of November. Chief executive Dave Lewis said he was "very encouraged".

Image source, Getty Images

Like-for-like food sales at M&S grew by 0.6% in the 13 weeks to 31 December, the company said this morning, external.

It also said that like-for-like sale in clothing and homeware rose 2.3% - ahead of expectations of a 0.4% decline.  

BBC Radio 4

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The FTSE 100 is enjoying its strongest run since its launch in 1984, after closing in positive territory for 12 consecutive days.

Jessica Ground, UK equities fund manager at Schroders, pointed to the short-term reasons for the run - the weak pound, the international focus of FTSE 100 companies. 

Investors had been attracted to bonds because of low interest rates and inflation.  

However, Ms Ground says that in the long-term, she expects a shift of investment from bonds to equities as inflation heads upwards.

India's foreign minister is demanding an apology from online retail giant Amazon for selling doormats depicting the Indian flag through its Canadian retail website. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj warned in a Twitter message that she could deny Indian visas to Amazon employees if the company did not apologize and "withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately".

India is not the only country whose flag was featured on a doormat. Amazon sells similar mats showing flags of the US, Canada and other countries. The site has, however, removed the Indian-themed product.

The Indian flag doormats had outraged many among the Indian diaspora in Canada who have posted pictures of the product to social media accounts and urged the foreign minister to formally object. 

BBC Radio 4

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Jessica Ground, UK equities fund manager at Schroders, tells the BBC's Today programme that she expects Tesco and Marks & Spencer to report better food sales for the Christmas period.

However she says that people are buying "less clothes, less stuff".

Whether this plays out at M&S, we'll see at 7am. Some estimates peg clothing and homeware like-for-like sales to grow 0.2% over Christmas, but forecast that food revenue will fall by 0.4%.

Image source, Reuters

Chinese spot checks on Bitcoin trading have hit the digital currency's value. The country’s central bank said it wanted to investigate market manipulation, money laundering and unauthorised financing. The move has sent the currency more than 16% lower.

The move comes as Beijing's tries to crack down on money flowing out of the country illegally. The weakening yuan has prompted many people to try to buy foreign currencies.

The currency traded at $760 (£624) on Thursday morning, down from more than $915 the previous day. Earlier in January, Bitcoin hit a $1,129 high. 

Image source, Getty Images

South Korea’s epic corruption scandal won’t go away. It already led to the president being impeached and today, Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong was questioned as a suspect.

The firm is accused of giving donations to foundations operated by a confidante of President Park - allegedly in exchange for political support of a controversial merger.

And here’s our South Korea correspondent Steve Evans' take on this: 

"Connoisseurs of the apology will study this case for years to come. There has now been a string of important people saying they are deeply sorry, even as they profess their innocence of wrong-doing.

Mr Lee said he was sorry for portraying a bad image. President Park said she was sorry - for being too trusting. And her mentor, Choi Soon-sil, also apologized, saying she had "committed an unpardonable crime". What crime that was though remains unclear - she also said she was innocent!

There will be more apologies before the current saga is over."

Image source, Getty Images

Business life is often a stressful life and while a bit of pressure can be motivating, too much is deadly. Now, a group of US researchers know why.

A study in The Lancet explains why constant stress leads to the risk of a heart attack.

Read all about it here.

BBC Radio 5 live

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What should we expect from Tesco when it publishes trading figures later? There's an expectation that Britain's biggest supermarket will join Morrisons and Sainsbury's in revealing a resurgent performance for the Christmas period.

Jessica Ground, UK Equities Fund Manager at Schroders, tells Wake up to Money: "They have had quite a radical change in management and simplified the business. They have focussed back on getting retail right."

Experts at Shore Capital believe Tesco will have kept its recent sales recovery on track over the crucial festive season. Clive Black, at Shore Capital, predicts the group will have notched up its fourth quarter in a row of rising sales.

Image source, AFP

Asia’s big markets continue to head lower with Japan's Nikkei 225 leading the charge with a 1% loss.

Pharmaceutical companies were among the big losers after US president-elect Donald Trump said he’d go after US pharma companies being taken over or moving abroad. 

Takeda, for instance, lost 2.5% - the firm just days ago had taken over US drug maker Ariad.

Elsewhere, both Australia's ASX/200 and South Korea's Kospi finished the day flat. 

Chinese markets are still trading with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong losing 0,6% while the Shanghai Composite is also flat.

BBC Radio 5 live

Image source, Getty Images

Some of the big high street names are still not doing enough to counter the challenge from online, says Tim Jackson, programme director at the British School of Fashion.

He tells Wake up to Money that Marks & Spencer needs to pull its socks up, but the retailer is not alone. "One-in-five of every pound in fashion is spent online," he says. "There is still too much physical presence." On M&S, he says: "It's an institution, but no business has a right to succeed. To be big can be cumbersome."

We'll learn more about how M&S is coping with the online challenge later this morning, when the retailer publishes a trading update.

It's a retail bonanza, with a string of big names posting trading updates for the Christmas period. Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, Primark, Asos, John Lews... and on it goes. Stay with us for all the latest news on this, plus figures from property giant Barratt Developments and Halifax house price data.