NEW YORK (Reuters):
GOOGLE Incorporated's planned addition to the influential Standard and Poor's (S&P) 500 index boosted its stock as much as eight per cent on Friday, but raised fresh concerns over the stock's volatility and an uneven flow of information from its executives.
Web search leader Google will replace oil and gas producer Burlington Resources Inc. on the marquee stock index after the close of trade on March 31.
Shares of Google jumped US$22.80 to US$364.69 on NASDAQ in the afternoon, and traded as high as US$370.09, following a nine per cent rise after the change was announced late on Thursday.
Investors have waited for Google to join the trading big leagues since July, close to its first anniversary as a public company. Many index funds base their investments on whether a stock is included in the S&P 500.
"It's a sign that this is a company that represents the economy, represents the stock market and should be a member of the S&P 500," David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P 500 Index Committee, said in an interview on CNBC television.
Google shares had lacked 'seasoning' until about six months ago and looked unusually volatile for entry into the index as recently as October, Blitzer said. But if Google shares had not been introduced now, the index may have had to wait until September or October at the earliest, he said.
With its market value just over US$100 billion on Thursday, Google would become the 19th-largest member of the index.
