Shares in online retail giant Amazon have risen above the $1,000 mark for the first time.
The shares touched $1,001.2 at one point on Tuesday before slipping back to $996.7. It originally listed its shares in May 1997 for just $18 each.
Amazon now has a market capitalisation of about $478bn, which is more than twice that of Wal-Mart.
After starting as a bookseller, it has steadily expanded to become much broader-based retailer.
According to consultancy Slice Intelligence, Amazon now accounts for about 43% of all online sales in the US.
Amazon is now the fourth-largest US Company by market capitalisation, behind Apple, Google owner Alphabet, and Microsoft.
Alphabet’s class A shares were also close to hitting four figures on Tuesday, trading at $996, meaning the company is worth around $681bn.
Despite the rise in Amazon’s share price, the NASDAQ index – of which Amazon is a member – closed down 7 points or 0.11% at 6,203.19.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 50.81 points to 21,029.47 while the wider S&P 500 index slid 2.91 points to 2,412.91 as investors picked their way through a raft of US economic data.
