AMAZON SHARES SOAR TO A RECORD $1,500

SHARES in Amazon have hit $1,500 for the first time in yet another major milestone.

The tech titan’s stock rose 2pc during early trading in New York yesterday to reach a high of $1503.49, bringing total gains this year to 28pc and valuing it at around £520bn. Shares fell back slightly by the closing bell, ending up 1pc, or $14.57, at $1,482.82. It means founder Jeff Bezos saw his fortune surge to more than £88bn. Investors have been wowed by Amazon’s expansion in everything from groceries to TV streaming. But the dominance is causing ructions in other players’ stock prices.

US shopping titan Walmart suffered the worst one-day plunge in its history on Tuesday, falling 10.2pc because of slow growth. Neil Saunders of Global Data Retail said: ‘Walmart needs to invest in evolving and adapting. If it doesn’t, it will become irrelevant. In so doing, it is following the same strategy as Amazon: taking less profit today, for the prospect of a stronger, better business tomorrow.’