Markets end firm, TCS slips 2%

Markets surged for the third consecutive session tracking gains in global markets and after Tata Consultancy Services reported fourth quarter earnings in line with expectations.

The Nifty opened on a firm note and moved between 5,913 and 5,866 as investors awaited TCS and Reliance Industries results.

The S&P CNX Nifty held on to the gains after TCS consolidated net profit for FY11 surged 30% y-o-y.

The Nifty closed up 33 points, at 5,885 and the benchmark Sensex ended higher by 131 points, at 19,602.

Markets ended the week on a positive note, both the indices were up 1%.

According to stock exchange filings, net profit for TCS was up 30% at Rs 9,068 crore in FY11 versus Rs 7,001 crore in FY10.

The total income increased to Rs 37,325 crore from Rs 30,029 crore in the same period.

The net profit margins fell by 153 basis points from the year earlier.

Management said there were concerns in global macroeconomic environment in the near term.

The company also plans to raise wages by 12-14% to fight attrition.

TCS dipped 5% from the day's high of Rs 1,245 due to profit booking as results were in line with analysts' estimates.

The stock closed at 1,186, down 2.2%. Selling pressure was seen other IT stocks after the recent run up.

Mphasis fell 1.2%, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra were off 0.8% each.

Market analysts expect Nifty to move higher next week. Ashish Chaturmohta Vice President (Derivatives & Technical Analyst) from IIFL Wealth said "fresh longs were seen around 5,850 and the Nifty Index could scale to a high of 5,970 in the near term."

Also food inflation shot up to 8.74% for the week ended April 9 from 8.28% in the previous week fueling expectations of further rate hike

which capped the market gains.

Across Asia, markets ended higher bouyed by rally in technology shares following overnight gains on Wall Street after Apple Inc. reported better than expected results.

Commodity producers rallied after brent crude jumped to $124/bbl on improving demand outlook. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.8% to 9,686, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1% to 24,138, China's Shanghai Composite edged up 0.7% to 3,026.67 and South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.3% to 2,199.

Back in India, another frontline stock which was in the lime light today was Reliance Industries.

The share ended up 1.4% at Rs 1040.

The energy conglomerate is expected to post 20% profit growth q-o-q led by higher gross refining and petro chemical margins, although lower gas production from KGD6 basin may affect profits marginally.

BSE Metal and Oil & Gas shares were leading sectoral following spike in international commodity prices. From the metal pack, Sesa Goa was up 4.4%, Hindustan Zinc gained 3.2% and Jindal Steel was up 2.4%.

Among the oil & gas shares, Petronet LNG climbed 4.4%, ONGC gained 3% and Oil India surged 1.5%.

Top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki, up 3.2%, ONGC advanced 3% and Hindalco Industries surged 2.9%.

Only 9 components on the Sensex were trading in the red, BHEL fell 4.4%, Bharti Airtel was off 1.4% and Bajaj Auto declined 0.7%.

Broader markets ended flat, market breadth was positive 1421 stocks advanced for 1487 stocks that declined.