Communications technology company Messaging International on Wednesday poured cold water on market speculation it was on the verge of announcing a deal with Apple.

Shares in Messaging International surged more than 250 percent to levels not seen since late 2006 with trading volumes the highest since early 2007 and at more than 100 times their 30-day rolling average.

There's various comments about Apple. To our knowledge there's no evidence (of a deal), said a spokeswoman for the company which based on Tuesday's closing price had a market value of just 1.18 million pounds ($1.94 million).

On the Interactive Investor bulletin board, private investors were discussing whether the company would be signing an agreement with software giant Apple.

Maybe someone ... on a website got the rest of the punters excited, but I've seen no reason for them (the shares) to go better at all, says a trader at Winterfloods.

Shares in the company were up 155 percent at 1.215 pence by 1156 GMT (7:56 a.m. EDT) having earlier risen as high as 1.775 pence and to their highest level since November 2006.

(Reporting by Ben Deighton, editing by Paul Hoskins)

Electronics Apple inc. Apple