Investing.com -- Apple Inc. passed the $5 trillion market valuation on Tuesday, becoming only the second company to reach this level.

The iPhone maker's shares climbed as much as 1.8% to $342.89 shortly after markets opened on Tuesday, pushing the company's market capitalization above $5 trillion for the first time before falling back below the threshold. The stock needs to close above $340.43 to officially cross the $5 trillion mark.

Nvidia Corp. previously closed at a record $5.7 trillion on May 14, but has since lost approximately $1 trillion in valuation. Apple is now the largest company in the S&P 500 Index.

By 10 AM on Tuesday, Apple shares were trading roughly 0.5% higher, paring some earlier gains.