EW YORK (AP) — Apple’s stock reached $700 for the first time on Tuesday, setting a record for the company the day after it announced that orders for its iPhone 5 topped 2 million in the first 24 hours.

The stock traded as high as $701.44 in the morning, up a quarter of a percent from Monday’s close. It later fell slightly. It had come within 20 cents of $700 on Monday.

The rally in Apple’s stock price puts the company’s market value at $656 billion.

The $700 mark is somewhat of an arbitrary milestone for Apple’s stock, representing little more than a nice round number and a record high trading level.

The company, after all, already enjoys the distinction as the world’s most valuable public company ever. Google Inc., its Silicon Valley neighbor, saw its stock price surpass $700 in 2007. On Tuesday, Google’s stock was trading at $715.24. But the online search leader’s market capitalization is well below Apple’s at $234.1 billion.

Apple started taking orders for the iPhone 5 at 3 a.m. EDT Friday. Orders during the first 24 hours more than doubled what Apple had for its predecessor, the iPhone 4S, over the same period last October.