Twitter shares jump after fake article on takeover

A bogus article that appeared on a fake website similar to Bloomberg's, announcing that Twitter has received a take-over offer, went viral and took the micro-blogging site's shares up by 8%, a media report said on Wednesday.

The fake article, published online on Bloomberg.market domain, cited "people with knowledge of the situation", announcing that Twitter was "working closely with bankers after receiving an offer to be bought out for $31 billion".

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the fake website mimicked Bloomberg's design layout and even used a Bloomberg reporter's name in the byline.

Twitter's stock jumped more than 8% minutes after the bogus article appeared.

A Twitter account @OpenOutcrier, closely followed by traders, appears to have been the first to tweet the false report.

But within 10 minutes, shares retreated to where they traded before the market reacted to the fake article.

Later, both Bloomberg and Twitter denied the report. The account of the Bloomberg look-a-like fake website has now been suspended.