New Delhi: Equity investors became richer by over Rs 7.21 lakh crore as stock markets continued the rally for the second day on Wednesday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened in the green on Wednesday and further jumped 1,469.64 points or 2.75 percent to 54,893.73 during the day. It finally settled at 54,647.33, higher by 1,223.24 points or 2.29 percent amid reports of diplomatic efforts to end Russia's attack on Ukraine.

On Tuesday, it settled at 53,424.09, higher by 581.34 points or 1.10 percent.

With the recovery in equities, the market capitalization of BSE-listed companies jumped by Rs 7,21,949.74 crore to Rs 2,48,32,780.78 crore in two days. Markets had faced four sessions of heavy declines from February 28 to March 7.

"Markets extended Tues day's rebound and gained over 2 percent, tracking recovery in global indices. After a flat start, the benchmark inched gradually higher as the day progressed and set closer to the day's high. Heavyweights like Reliance. HDFC Bank and Inty contributed half of the indexius according to Ajit Mishra, VP- Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

The recent rebound is in line with the global counterparts and it would be too early to call it a reversal, Mishra added.

From the 30-share pack, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries Limited, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers on Wednesday, jumping up to 5.56 percent.

Source- PTI