Google share price jumps past US$1,000

Google has done something few companies ever do in the stock market: It has joined the US$1,000 club.

On Friday, Google's share price jumped above that amount for the first time, marking another milestone in its remarkable ascent from US$85 in its public offering in 2004.

It is a reminder of the new order that has taken hold in the technology world in just a few years - and how far apart the winners are from the losers.

Google closed up 14 per cent on Friday, at US$1,011.41, after a better-than-expected earnings release late on Thursday. The jump brought its gain since its initial offering to roughly 1,100 per cent. It has risen every year since except 2010 and 2008.

By comparison, the overall Nasdaq composite rose 120 per cent, while Microsoft - 10 years ago the most feared giant in technology - gained just 28 per cent.

Friday's gain made Google, already one of the world's most valuable companies, one of the few in which buying a single share costs more than US$1,000.