BANGALORE: HCL Technologies, India's fourth-largest software services provider, beat estimates with a 68.4 percent jump in quarterly profits joining Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services in signalling an outsourcing pickup.

Consolidated net profit for the fiscal second quarter that ended December 31 rose to 9.65 billion rupees from 5.73 billion rupees for the year-earlier period. Analysts were expecting profit to rise to 8.26 billion rupees, according to the latest Thomson Reuters data.

Investors were hoping a strong show by the top companies in India's $100 billion-a-year outsourcing industry would be an early sign of a broader pickup in outsourcing spending.

Research firm Gartner expects IT services spending to grow 5.2 percent to $927 billion in 2013, compared with growth of 1.8 percent in 2012.

Economic uncertainty had led to concerns that clients in the United States and Europe, the IT industry's biggest markets, will continue to hold back spending.

The World Bank on Tuesday cut its estimate for global economic growth in 2013 to 2.4 percent from its 3 percent estimate in June, citing slow recovery in developed countries.

Infosys, India's No. 2 software services provider, on January 11 beat expectations for the December quarter and unexpectedly raised its dollar-terms revenue forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31. Tata Consultancy also beat forecasts, on December 14, and said it was "very confident" heading into the new year.

Third-ranked Wipro reports its earnings on Friday