Twitter's Shares Jump on Takeover Rumors

Twitter Inc's shares jumped 5 percent and activity in its options surged on Tuesday on unsubstantiated market chatter about the company fending off a takeover bid.

The microblogging service provider's shares rose to $53.28, the highest they have been since October, on market chatter that the company has hired advisers to rebuff a takeover bid.

Twitter's options were unusually active on Tuesday with total volume more than 250,000 contracts, or twice the average daily volume, according to Trade Alert data.

Call options, usually used to place bullish bets on shares, outnumbered puts by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1. The reading is about the highest it has been in favor of calls since the beginning of March.

Calls betting on the shares rising above $53 by Friday were among the most active options on Twitter with volume of nearly 11,000 contracts.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Editing by Bernard Orr)