Google’s (GOOG) stock crossed the $600 mark for the first time earlier this week, which pleased the technology exchange traded funds (ETFs) that contain the Internet giant within their top 10 holdings. The stock rose 2.6% to close at $609.62 on Monday, and it is now more than $100 higher than it was three months ago after Google reported second-quarter earnings, reports Miguel Helft for The New York Times.
Google hasn’t disclosed any new financial information since then, and the company doesn’t provide guidance to financial analysts. So why is the stock up?
Some experts suggest its part of the overall rise in domestic stocks in the past five weeks. Others say its the fact that Google is outpacing rivals in the search market by an ever-widening margin. Another theory behind Google’s rise is that the company has made changes to its search advertising algorithms, which is causing advertising prices to go up. In addition, the weak U.S. dollar is helping Google because half of Google’s revenues come from outside the U.S. Google is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on Oct. 18.
Some of the technology stocks that contain Google within their top 10 holdings include Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK), iShares S&P Global Technology (IXN), iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology (IYW) and iShares S&P GSTI Technology (IGM). It might not come as a surprise that all these ETFs are up. Year-to-date, XLK is up 19.2%, IXN is up 17.6%, IYW is up 18.9% and IGM is up 20.8%.
Another top holding within in many of the technology ETFs is Apple (AAPL). Apple has provided another huge boost to these ETFs with its popular iPhone, which will soon be released in Europe where it is expected to receive a warm welcome. The iPhone will be available in Germany and the United Kingdom starting Nov. 9, but a release date has yet to be determined for France and other European countries. In addition, Apple is preparing a localized directory of the iPhone’s web applications, says David Chartier for ARS Technica.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.