Apple Inc. became the first U.S. company to reach a $1 trillion market value Thursday as shares advanced 2.5% by midday, and 8.5% since Wednesday's open. Data from eVestment show about $1.02 trillion in institutional assets are invested in passive funds that track the S&P 500 index. Apple represents about 3.8% of the index's market cap, translating to a $39 billion exposure for these institutions. Comparatively, the tech company's FAANG peers total 13% of the index, and $134 billion in total institutional exposure through S&P 500 indexed assets.
Concerns should arise about one company's influence over such a large asset balance, but Apple's correlation to the broad index has been in line with the average FAANG stock correlation and less than that of the index's financial cohort.
The gain almost doubled the gap in market valuation between Apple and its next closest peer, Amazon, to $96 billion from $54 billion. The gap in market values between the two was as high as $300 million in Apple's favor at the end of 2017.
