Bitcoin (BTC-USD)

The price of bitcoin surged to nearly $48,000 (￡37,728) Tuesday afternoon after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appeared to announce on X, that the regulator had granted approval for the launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. However, it was all a hoax.

The price of bitcoin briefly spiked more than $1,000 after the post on X claimed: “The SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.” Cryptocurrency investors had already driven bitcoin’s price above $46,000 in anticipation of the approval.

Read more: LIVE: FTSE and European stocks subdued after false SEC approval for Bitcoin ETFs

Moments later, SEC Chair Gary Gensler posted that "The @SECGov twitter account was compromised, and an unauthorized tweet was posted. The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products."

X confirmed the SEC’s account was compromised and said it was because of an “unidentified individual” obtaining control over a phone number associated with the agency’s account through a third party.

Bitcoin rallied immediately after the post, for a 1.5% gain on the day, but swiftly reversed on confirmation that the news was fake and the price slid as much as 2.5%.

Greggs (GRG.L)

Shares in Greggs surged over 7% as the high street bakery reported a 9.4% rise in like-for-like sales across its own-managed shops in the fourth quarter.

Greggs said it does not plan to hike prices over the year ahead, but is unlikely to be able to offer price cuts as rising wages keep costs under pressure.

The group said 2023 sales rose 19.6% to ￡1.81bn from ￡1.51bn the year before and with like-for-like sales growth of 13.7%.

Greggs revealed plans to open up to another 160 stores in the year ahead and cheered a strong end to 2023.

The group opened a record 220 new shops over 2023, with 33 closures and 42 relocations leaving it with 145 new sites on a net basis and taking its total estate to 2,473.

Greggs is set to open between 140 and 160 new shops on a net basis in 2024 as it looks to give customers more convenient access to its stores.

Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L)

Sainsbury’s backed its guidance for fiscal 2024 after reporting robust growth in grocery sales during the Christmas period.