Tesla Inc. stock ended its pre-S&P 500 index’s era with one final rally and plenty of investor interest.
Tesla
TSLA,
+5.96%
rose 6% to end at a record $695 on Friday, reversing course from earlier in the day and gathering most of its steam in the final moments of trading.
Nearly 200 million shares traded hands, Tesla’s fifth-ever largest volume and its highest since early February. The stock was the best performer and most active stock on the Nasdaq 100.
NDX,
-0.11%
The S&P 500 index, which Tesla will soon join, finished down 13.07 points, or 0.35%. Tesla shares turned lower in the extended session Friday, down 2% at last check.
Related: Buying Tesla stock? Here’s what one analyst says ahead of S&P 500 addition
On Monday, Tesla shares start trading on the S&P
SPX,
-0.35%,
a seal of approval that will put the stock in countless index-tracking and actively managed funds, which will have to follow suit to balance their portfolios.
The S&P’s index manager announced Tesla’s inclusion on Nov. 16, after snubbing the company in an earlier rebalance.
Underscoring the complexity of adding the company, S&P Dow Jones Indices consulted with investors on how to go about it, ultimately deciding to add Tesla all at once.
Since the S&P addition’s announcement, Tesla has added $271.96 billion in market value, which is greater than Toyota Motor Co.’s market capitalization, currently around $213 billion.
In fact, that valuation jump since the November announcement is about where Tesla was valued in mid-July, and is more than the market value of 483 S&P 500 companies, or nearly 97% of the companies in the index.
The stock is up 731% so far this year, compared with gains around 15% for the S&P.