By Noel Randewich
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shares of Apple (O:AAPL) rose to a record high close on Monday, buoyed by Wall Street's expectations that the release of a 10th-anniversary iPhone and pent-up customer demand will shore up lackluster sales.
The largest component of the S&P 500 and a core holding on Wall Street, Apple's stock climbed 0.9 percent to end at $133.29, breaking above its record high close of $133.00 hit on Feb. 23, 2015 and giving it a market value of about $699.3 billion.
Its increase helped balloon the S&P 500's (SPX) market capitalization on Monday beyond $20 trillion for the first time.
Apple has climbed 50 percent from lows in the first half of last year and is up 15.1 percent so far in 2017. It was still short of its all-time intraday high of $134.54, set on April 28, 2015.
Monday's gain came after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) analyst Simona Jankowski raised her price target for Apple to $150. She said she is more confident that an upcoming 10th anniversary iPhone will feature augmented-reality technology, which could help boost demand in a saturated smartphone market.