Apple shares rose 0.95 percent to a new all-time high of $176.75 per share in early trading on the NASDAQ exchange. The iPhone maker's capitalisation rose to $2.9 trillion. By 19:24 Moscow time, the rise had slowed to 0.05% and the price had fallen to $175.17.

Apple shares are up about 35% this year after rising 80% in 2020. By comparison, the S&P 500 index is up 26% for 2021. Apple's capitalisation reached the $1 trillion mark on 2 August 2018. It became the first company in the US with such a market value. The company needed about two more years to increase its capitalisation from $1 trillion to $2 trillion. This record was set just over a year ago, in August 2020.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley called Apple stock the best investment idea for 2022. The bank raised its target price for the IT giant's securities to $200 over the next year. Experts believe that the company's securities are still significantly undervalued and could gain 14% over the year.

On Wednesday, December 8, the company was granted a reprieve to introduce alternative payment systems on the App Store. It had to comply with a court ruling on a lawsuit filed by game developer Epic Games. The game studio's app was removed after Epic added payment features to the game to bypass the App Store. The developer attributed its actions to too high transaction fees on the shop - it is as high as 30%.

In September a court ordered Apple to change App Store rules to prohibit developers from linking to outside payment systems to bypass Apple's own payment system in apps for which it charged a sales commission. The court ruling was due to take effect on Thursday, December 9. Apple has now been allowed to continue receiving payment fees while the appeal process continues. The AppStore generated about $64 billion in sales in 2020.