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Indian shares were lower in early trade on Thursday after data showed the country's retail inflation accelerated to a five-month high in September, stoking fears of further rate hikes by the central bank.

The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.19% to 17,090.50 as of 0348 GMT, and the S&P BSE Sensex declined 0.26% to 57,477.01.

The country's annual retail inflation jumped to 7.41% last month, as food prices surged, and it remained above the Reserve Bank of India's target for three quarters.

The data was also higher than the 7.3% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, and above the previous month's print of 7%.

Among stocks, IT major Wipro Ltd slumped as much as 5.6% in early trade after the company's quarterly profit missed estimates and it forecast a smaller sequential revenue growth for the December quarter amid a challenging macro environment.

HCL Tech Ltd rose 3% after the IT services firm on Wednesday raised its full-year revenue growth forecast and reported a 7.1% rise in September-quarter profit on the back of an increase in new order wins.

Wipro's bigger rival Infosys Ltd was up 0.11% ahead of its quarterly results later in the day when it may also announce a share buyback proposal.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold net 5.42 billion Indian rupees ($65.91 million) worth of equities on Wednesday, while domestic investors bought 853.2 million rupees, as per provisional data available with the National Stock Exchange.

In broader Asia, stocks tracked Wall Street lower on Thursday, while investors weighed the risks of global recession after minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting showed policymakers agreed they needed to maintain a more restrictive policy stance. [MKTS/GLOB]

Market participants now await U.S. consumer price data due later in the day.