Manchester United: Shares rally on New York Stock Exchange despite Olympiakos defeat and rumours of David Moyes exit

United's 2-0 defeat at Olympiakos has put a large question mark over whether the club will progress to the quarter-finals but that pessimism did not extend to the stock market

A downbeat David Moyes looks on from the touchline in Athens on Tuesday (GETTY IMAGES)

Manchester United's shares rallied on the New York Stock Exchange despite the club's disappointing defeat in the Champions League and false rumours over David Moyes' future.

United's 2-0 defeat at Olympiakos has put a large question mark over whether the club will progress to the quarter-finals but that pessimism did not extend to the stock market.

There was an initial drop in the share price when the market opened but it soon rallied and finally closed on Thursday 33 cents up at 14.98 US dollars.

The day's trading followed rumours, which proved to be false, that there would be an imminent announcement on the New York Stock Exchange about the future of United manager Moyes.

The club were baffled by the reports that their manager was set to leave his position - United have always made it clear that Moyes will be given time to prove that he is the right man to maintain the success delivered by predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson.

Moyes admitted after the Olympiakos match that he could barely identify one of his players who deserved praise.

"You could hardly pick anybody out. We just didn't perform," the Scot said.

"We all have to work at it," the former Arsenal striker said. "In some games we do play well but in others we do not. We have not had luck at times.

"I am not going to point the finger at anybody. We need to try and turn it around and we need to take our chances."