SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc. saw its shares rise more than 1% in morning trades on Frida — hitting a record intraday high of $ 644.13 — as chatter continues to grow ahead of an expected iPhone 5 announcement in early September. Jefferies & Co. boosted its price target on Apple to $ 900 from $ 800 prior to the opening bell, predicting that Apple will have about 15 million units of the new iPhone in “finished goods inventory” by mid-September, in time for what is expected to be the market launch of the device later in the month. Analyst Peter Misek predicted that the iPhone 5 “will be the biggest handset launch in history.” He also believes a rumored Apple-branded TV set “is in full production,” for which he expects a market launch sometime in the December quarter.

