The market value of companies listed on Turkey's benchmark Borsa Istanbul (BIST) increased by TL 241 billion over the last 10 months and reached TL 857 billion.

According to data compiled by Borsa Istanbul, the market value of companies traded on the stock market was TL 616 billion by the end of 2016. Over the course of the last 10 months, the value of these companies increased by nearly 40 percent, reaching TL 856 billion by Oct. 31. The increase corresponded to TL 241 billion.

A large portion of the increase came from the first 20 companies, described as the giants of the stock market. The market value of the most valuable 20 companies on BIST were TL 372.4 billion, but by the end of October their value had risen by TL 143.2 billion, reaching TL 515.6 billion.

Garanti Bankası, whose market value rose by TL 11.8 billion over the last 10 months, reaching TL 43.8 billion, became the most valuable company on the stock exchange. The bank was followed by Koç Holding and Akbank, which had market value of TL 43 billion and TL 40 billion, respectively.

One of Turkey's major defense firms, ASELSAN, also listed among the largest defense companies in the world, saw the highest increase among the top 20 companies with a 167 percent rise. At the end of last year, the company's value was TL 12.7 billion, and it was the 16th largest firm on the stock market. During the first 10 months of the year, its value reached TL 33.9 billion and ranks fifth.

ASELSAN was followed by Turkish oil refiner Tüpraş, whose market value increased by 92.9 percent. The company's value increased to TL 34.2 billion from TL 17.7 billion, and it ranks fourth among the top 20 BIST firms.

Turkey's national flagship carrier Turkish Airlines (THY) did not rank among the top 20 last year; however, by increasing its value over TL 14 billion, the company now ranks 18th on the list.