(Updates at 9:52 a.m. IST)

By Bharath Rajeswaran

BENGALURU, April 16 (Reuters) - Indian shares fell on

Tuesday as a slide in information technology stocks on receding

bets of early U.S. rate cuts added to investors' concerns over

the conflict in the Middle East.

The NSE Nifty 50 was down 0.41% at 22,182.80 as of

9:52 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.51% to

73,019.76.

U.S.-rate sensitive IT stocks dropped 1.2%, the

most among the major sectors.

Asian markets declined on Tuesday, following a lower close

on Wall Street overnight, after stronger-than-expected U.S.

retail sales data added to fading expectations of an early

Federal Reserve rate cut.

Riskier assets continued to remain under pressure after Iran

launched explosive drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday.

"The tensions arising between Israel and Iran are likely to

keep domestic markets subdued for a few sessions," Deven

Choksey, managing director of DRChoksey Finserv said.

"Investors are assessing the gravity and volume of this

particular situation for its impact on global trade."

India's benchmark indexes, Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex,

have dropped about 2% each in last two sessions.

High-weightage financials fell 0.6%. Shriram

Finance, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finance

shed 1.3%-1.7% and were among the top five Nifty 50

losers.

IT company LTIMindtree lost about 3% and was the

top Nifty 50 loser after it reported two global executive vice

presidents' exits.

Jio Financial Services rose 4% after it announced

a new joint venture with BlackRock ( BLK ) to set up a wealth

management and broking business in India.

Newly-listed Bharti Hexacom jumped 5% after

Jefferies initiated coverage of the telephone services

provider's stock with a "buy" rating.

The broader, more-domestically focussed small-

and mid-caps gained 0.8% and 0.1%, respectively.

They had dropped about 1.6% each on Monday, underperforming

the benchmarks.

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by

Janane Venkatraman, Savio D'Souza and Mrigank Dhaniwala)