Apple valued at $500bn as shares surge on iPad 3 hopes

Apple's shares put on more than $9.65 - or 1.8pc - to close at $535.41 after the company sent out an cryptic invitation for an event in San Francisco on March 7 saying: "We have something you really have to see. And touch."

This gives the iconic technology group a market capitalisation of $499.2bn, according to data from Bloomberg.

The Financial Times reported that Apple's equity value - which includes options and other instruments likely to turned into stock in future as well as its market value based of the number of shares in issue - as $501bn.

A value of $500bn puts the company in a rare club, which includes Microsoft, Intel and Cisco. Although these company entered the club during the dotcom boom and their market values have since fallen well below this.

If the iPad 3 is unveiled next month, it will be the first major product launch by Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who replaced Steve Jobs as chief executive in August just months before the Apple co-founder's death in October as a result of pancreatic cancer.

Apple regained its position as the world's most valuable company from oil giant Exxon after reporting record first quarter results that smashed market expectations in January, with profits more than doubling year-on-year to $13.1bn (£8.4bn).

It is now has a market value of around $90bn more than Exxon.