Google's Stock Tops $700 for 1st Time Since 2007

Google's shares topped $700 Friday, crossing the milestone for the first time since 2007.

The comeback keeps Google Inc. in step with major market gauges as Wall Street extends its recovery from the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009. The Dow Jones industrial average touched its highest level since 2007 earlier this week and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 is nearing its late 2007 levels.

Google's stock last traded above $700 on New Year's Eve 2007, before the markets suffered the great falls of 2008. As the recession deepened, Google's shares traded as low as $247.30 in late November 2008.

The shares rose $6.75 to close Friday at $706.15.

Google had been lagging much of the stock market earlier this year amid concerns about regulators' investigations into the company's business practices and its recently completed $12.4 billion acquisition of cellphone maker Motorola Mobility.

Internet search leader Google eased some of the worries about Motorola becoming a financial albatross last month when it announced plans to lay off about 20 percent of Motorola's workforce, or about 4,000 workers. Investors have also been betting that the antitrust investigations in Europe and the U.S. will be resolved without weakening Google's moneymaking prowess.

The rising investor confidence in Google raises the prospect of the stock reaching a new peak in the upcoming weeks. Google's shares hit their record high of $747.24 in November 2007.