Apple m-cap crosses USD 600 bn mark

In the first hour of trading, the scrip of the technology giant surged as much as 1.01 per cent to USD 642 apiece on Nasdaq. During the intra-day, it touched a record high of USD 644.13.

The sharp rise in the company's share price pushed its market capitalisation to USD 603 billion.

The Apple counter surged on reports that it would launch iPhone 5 in early September and analysts are predicting that this handset would be the biggest launch in history.

The growth in Apple's stock had been slightly weaker for the past month in the run-up to weaker-than-expected earnings for the third quarter, said analysts.