Ocado's stock price is rocketing after the online grocer announced 2,000 new jobs

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Shares in Ocado are having an awesome day, after the online grocer announced yesterday that it would create nearly 2,000 jobs before Christmas.

Ocado was up nearly 5% at one point this morning, before settling at a growth of around 3.8% in trade.

Only Lonmin, Greggs and International Personal Finance have enjoyed more success on the FTSE 250 index, the mid-value stock market on which Ocado is listed.

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Ocado is creating 1,798, ranging from business support to human resources and delivery drivers.

The announcement continues Ocado's brief tradition of creating new jobs in Q4, having hired roughly 1,000 employees just before Christmas last year. On both occasions, the company has been keen to stress that the jobs are permanent, and not just to deal with increased demand over the festive period

Ocado has enjoyed big stock market success since its listing in 2010. Shares are currently more than twice their original value, having peaked at 600.5p in February last year. Meanwhile rival grocers such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, and Marks & Spencer have all seen declining share prices in the last year.

Ocado's share price is also benefiting from expectations that it will seal a deal to license its software overseas, either with France's Carrefour, or US grocery chain Safeway. No confirmation of any deal has happened yet, but last month the company's finance director told reporters that Ocado is "still targeting signing a deal this year and it is quite imminent."