Herbalife shares rose yesterday after billionaire Carl Icahn bought more than 2.3m shares in the nutrition company.

Activist investor William Ackman has built a stake worth about $5.5bn (€5.05bn) in Mondelez International, the maker of Cadbury chocolate and Oreo biscuits, in what is seen as an attempt to push the company to boost earnings or sell itself.

Procter & Gamble, whose chief executive is under pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman, raised its 2013 profit forecast and posted quarterly earnings that beat analysts’ estimates after gaining market share in key categories.

The stock market finished with a sharp loss today after bleak readings on the economy heightened investors’ fears of a recession. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 140 points.