The total market value of companies listed on the Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST), which stood at TL 616 billion ($171.4 billion) as of December 30, 2016, have increased by TL 136 billion ($37.8 billion), reaching TL 779 billion ($217.1 billion) in the first half of this year.
Approximately half of the TL 163 billion ($45.4 billion) increase was registered by Borsa Istanbul's 20 most valuable companies. Their combined value of TL 372.4 billion ($103.8 billion), at the end of 2016, surged by TL 80.5 billion ($22.4 billion), reaching TL 452.9 billion ($126.2 billion) as of June 30, 2017.
Despite some changes in ranking, the top 10 companies have managed to stay on the list since the beginning of the year.
During that period, Garanti Bank took the lead from Koç Holding, becoming the most valuable company with a TL 9.5-billion ($2.6-billion) increase in value in the first half of the year, totaling TL 41.5 billion ($11.6 billion).
While all companies on the list saw an increase market values in the first half of the year, ASELSAN added a staggering 72 percent to the face value of its stock over a six-month period, the largest increase by percentage.
The defense company's total market value increased by TL 9.2 billion ($2.6 billion) to reach TL 21.9 billion ($6.1 billion) in the first half of the year, ranking 11th among most valued companies.
VakıfBank, Ford Otosan, İş Bank and Tüpraş were the other companies that saw the highest increase by percentage, while Enka İnşaat, Finansbank, and Koç Holding recorded the lowest increases in value.
6 Koç Holding companies IN Top-20Koç Holding, which lost the title of most valuable company to Garanti Bank, gained TL 6.2 billion ($1.7 billion) in value in the first six months this year, followed by Akbank in third with TL 8.2 billion ($2.28 billion) and İş Bank in fourth place with TL 10 billion ($2.79 billion).
Six companies from Koç Holding, however, made the top-20 list.
Meanwhile, DenizBank and the Emlak Konut GYO, included on the list at the end of 2016, lost their places to Ford Otosan and Anadolu Efes.
Earlier in the last quarter of 2016, the top-20 list included eight banks which fell to seven, with the exit of DenizBank.
Turkey's Borsa Istanbul 100 share index opened 88.50 points higher, reaching a record 101,296.29 points yesterday.
The 0.09-percent increase in Tuesday's close saw the Istanbul-based market reach its highest value since opening in 2012. The banking and holding sectors rose 0.01 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively, and shares in the electricity index performed the strongest, rising by 0.47 percent. The food and beverage sector was the only one to register a fall, dropping 0.04 percent.
The BIST 100 closed at 101,207.79 points on Tuesday before seeing trade worth TL 4.5 billion ($1.3 billion).