Shares and bonds in Thomas Cook have rallied since a media report said the British travel company was approached by several parties about a possible takeover of its tour-operating unit or the entire business.

The eurozone’s permanent crisis resolution mechanism is selling bonds in the public market against a brighter backdrop for European peripheral sovereigns.

AIB is likely to go to the market today with its first senior unsecured bond issue since 2008.

UNEXPECTEDLY weak US job numbers for August yesterday reinforced fears of recession, driving investors out of stocks and into the safety of bonds, gold and the Swiss franc. World stocks fell nearly 2 percent after the US Labour Department said employers added no new jobs in August and July’s figure was revised lower.