BlackBerry says unaware of reason for stock price surge

(Reuters) - Canada's BlackBerry Ltd said it was unaware of any reasons for a surge in its share price on Monday that lifted gains to more than 150% since the start of January.

U.S.-listed shares of the security software supplier were up 17.7% at $16.53, set for a seventh consecutive session of gains.

Responding to a request from securities regulator the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, BlackBerry said it was not aware of any material, undisclosed corporate developments that could have driven the surge in its stock and trading volume.

The latest jump in the company's shares comes after Blackberry, the once-ubiquitous name in the smartphone industry, on Jan. 15 settled a patent royalties dispute with Facebook Inc.

Security filings on Thursday showed that some senior executives sold shares in BlackBerry last week, with Chief Marketing Officer Mark Wilson selling 78,500 shares and Chief Financial Officer Steve Rai offloading 32,954 shares.

(This story corrects to say seventh straight session of gains, not eighth, in second paragraph. Removes reference to monthly gain in same paragraph)

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)