Apple shares hit a new record of almost $681 a share in US trading overnight as investors continued to digest the fallout from a $1bn patent lawsuit.
Apple has overtaken Microsoft as the most valuable company of all time after its share price surged this week, pushing the value of the company to $623bn.
Apple has seen its quarterly profit almost double, rocketing past analysts' forecasts and allaying fears of limited future sales of the iPhone.
The US Attorney General has filed a civil antitrust action against Apple and a number of publishers, accusing them of colluding to sell e-books for higher prices.
Craig Lazzara, senior director of US equities at S&P Indices, explains the truth behind benchmarks and the themes and variations that exist in the fund management industry.