(Reuters) - Nvidia ( NVDA ) notched a market capitalization of $4 trillion on Wednesday, making it the first public company in the world to reach the milestone and solidifying its position as one of Wall Street's most-favored stocks.

Shares of the leading chip designer rose as much as 2.4% to $164, benefiting from the ongoing surge in demand for artificial intelligence technologies.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) achieved a $1 trillion market value for the first time back in June 2023 and the surge continued unabated with its market value more than tripling in about a year, faster than Apple ( AAPL ) and Microsoft, the only other U.S. firms with a market value of more than $3 trillion.

Microsoft is the second biggest U.S. company, with a market cap of $3.75 trillion. Its shares were last up 1.3% at $503.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) has rebounded about 74% from its April lows, when global markets were jolted from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff volley.

However, optimism around trade partners reaching deals with the U.S. have lifted stocks of late, with the S&P 500 hitting an all-time high.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) holds a 7.3% weight on the S&P 500, the biggest on the index. Other tech behemoths, Apple ( AAPL ) and Microsoft, account for around 7% and 6%, respectively.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Chuck Mikolajczak and Arun Koyyur)