The Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST) has seen a record increase in the number of new local investors in October, according to the Central Registry Agency (MKK).

The trend has accelerated during the pandemic and related lockdowns amid rising interest in the capital markets.

The number of individual investors joining the stock exchange surged by 121,814 last month, the data showed Wednesday, pointing to the highest monthly increase ever.

Recent initial public offerings (IPOs), including technology consulting company ARD Grup Bilişim Tekonojileri A.Ş., Kontrolmatik Enerji ve Mühendislik A.Ş., Esenboğa Elektrik, Fade Gıda and Dinamik Isı Makine Yalıtım, are said to have particularly contributed to the rise.

Kontrolmatik attracted demand 26 times the available shares in late October. Esenboğa Elektrik, Fade Gıda, and Dinamik also attracted demand that came in six-and-a-half, 12 and 27 times the available shares, respectively.

The country's benchmark stock index opened at 1,155.48 points Wednesday, increasing 0.41% or 4.77 points from the previous close.

The Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index was up 1.36% to 1,166.41 points at 3:15 p.m. local time Wednesday.

At the previous close, the index was up 1.51% to 1,150.71 points with a daily trading volume of TL 22.37 billion ($2.65 billion).

The Borsa Istanbul SME Index, a gauge of the smaller companies favored by mom-and-pop investors, is up 307% this year, compared with a 6.5% gain for the benchmark BIST 100 Index, according to Bloomberg.

Analysts have stressed that the recent search for returns, developing technology, as well as easy trading from mobile apps of brokerage firms and banks, are also important factors that led individual investors to the stock market.

With the last month's increase, the total number of local investors has reached an all-time high of more than 1.87 million, according to the MKK data.

Some 677,506 individuals joined the stock exchange since January, a 57% year-on-year increase, the data showed.

October marked the 15-straight month of increase in the figure. Around 47,700 investors on average have been joining the stock market in the said period.

The portfolio of the domestic investors has reached increased by TL 940 million in October alone, bringing the total portfolio value up to TL 168.8 billion, renewing the record for the last seven months.

On the other hand, the number of foreign institutional investors investing in BIST has recently shown a downward trend.

The figure fell by 11 in October to 1,261. The portfolio value of the foreign institutional investors increased by about TL 6.4 billion to TL 195.1 billion.

Foreign real investors, however, have been increasing for 11 months by an average of 205 per month, the data showed.

The MKK data also revealed that the total portfolio value of BIST investors was down 1.4% to around TL 599.66 billion. The total number of investors in the same period increased by 122,089 to 1.88 million.

The local investors’ portfolio value in October dropped by 3.5% to nearly TL 304.4 billion. Portfolios of foreign investors, which increased by 166 to 11,555, was up 0.9% to TL 295.26 billion.