Tracked as a group, Minnesota’s top publicly trade companies outpaced the market in a banner year on Wall Street. The Star Tribune reports its index of Minnesota companies marked its biggest gains ever in 2013.

The Bloomberg-Star Tribune 100 index rose 49.3 percent in value in 2013, with gainers outnumbering losers 79 to 19 in 2013. That’s the best annual performance since the index was created in 1998.

The Bloomberg site routinely charts the price-weighted index that it says is “designed to measure the performance of the Minnesota economy. The index was developed with a base value of 100 as of December 30, 1998.”

A rising tide lifted Minnesota companies. CNN Money called 2013 “one for the record books,” saying that the S&P 500 had its strongest performance since 1997, gaining 29.6 percent in 2013. The Dow Jones industrial average had its best year since 1998; the blue chip index gained 26.5 percent. And the Nasdaq surged 38 percent,  its best year since 2009.

The newspaper highlighted a few stellar Minnesota performers, including XRS Corp., a mobile communications provider for the trucking industry that was up 377 percent. Best Buy rose 244 percent and SuperValu nearly tripled in price. Companies with climbing stock prices included 3M, G&K, Graco, Toro and Buffalo Wild Wings.

On the down side Select Comfort, the Plymouth-based adjustable mattress maker, fell 19 percent in value. The story also noted that 17 Minnesota companies that had flat-to-negative years, with the Dolan Co. listed as the worst performer.