Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

In this March 7, 2012 photo, the Apple logo is projected during an announcement in San Francisco. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Paul Sakuma

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 per cent 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 neighbour, 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.

"This was despite somewhat lukewarm reviews and some claiming it had 'lack of a wow factor,' Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said in a note to investors. "We continue to believe many underestimate iPhone 5 in that it is a significant update and will drive a powerful product cycle."

Wu estimates that Apple will likely ship 27 million iPhones in the current quarter. That's up from his earlier estimate of 26 million.