(Updates at 9:22 a.m. IST)

By Bharath Rajeswaran

BENGALURU, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose to a

record high in early trade on Thursday, led by information

technology stocks, after the U.S. Federal Reserve started its

monetary easing cycle with a large 50-basis-point rate cut.

The Nifty 50 index was up 0.76% at 25,570.6 points,

while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.82% at 83,647.96, as of

9:22 a.m. IST.

The bold and surprise move by the Fed is positive for equity

markets, said Dhawal Ghanshyam Dhanani, fund manager at SAMCO

Mutual Fund.

The rate cut will boost Indian IT companies' earnings as it

should support the U.S. economy, three analysts said.

IT companies, which earn a significant share of

their revenue from the U.S., rose 1.6% and were the top sectoral

gainer.

All 13 major sectors logged gains. The broader, more

domestically focussed small- and mid-caps

rose about 0.6% each.

Other Asian markets also gained, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan

index rising 0.9%.

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by

Mrigank Dhaniwala)