Alibaba's quarterly revenue beats estimates

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd reported fourth-quarter revenue above analysts` expectations on Thursday, helped by strength in the Chinese e-commerce market.

China`s top e-commerce firm also announced a two-year share repurchase program of up to $6 billion.

Alibaba`s total revenue rose about 60 percent to 38.58 billion yuan ($5.60 billion) in the quarter ended March 31, versus an average forecast of 36 billion yuan according to Thomson Reuters.

Net income attributable to shareholders rose to 10.65 billion yuan, or 60 cents per share, from 5.37 billion yuan in the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue from the firm`s core e-commerce business unit increased 47 percent to 31.57 billion yuan, above the previous quarter`s 45 percent rise.