Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty began the trade on an optimistic note on Wednesday amid heavy buying in infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 256.57 points to 81,594.52 in opening trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 69.3 points to 24,890.40.

From the Sensex firms, Larsen & Toubro jumped over 4 per cent after the infrastructure major reported a 29.8 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,617.19 crore during the June quarter, driven by strong overseas order growth.

Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, NTPC and Bajaj Finserv were also among the gainers. However, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Eternal and Infosys were among the laggards.