Dec 19 (Reuters) - Indian shares are set for a muted

open on Friday after the previous session's declines on concerns

over a slower pace of rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve,

while IT stocks are likely to find support after solid results

by U.S. peer Accenture ( ACN ).

The GIFT Nifty futures were trading at 23,917 as of

07:57 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 will

open near Thursday's close of 23,951.70.

In the previous session, the Nifty and BSE Sensex

closed 1% lower, taking their weekly declines to over 3%, after

the Fed delivered a 25 basis points rate cut but forecast just

two reductions in 2025, half of what policymakers anticipated in

September.

The benchmark indexes are set to log their first weekly

decline in five.

Fed's rate cut outlook dampened risk appetite for local

equities, with foreign investors selling Indian shares worth

42.25 billion rupees ($496.5 million) on Thursday, exchange data

showed.

Overseas investors turned net buyers in December after being

net sellers for two straight months, but have net sold domestic

stocks so far this week.

Indian IT firms, which get a major portion of their revenue

from U.S. clients, will be on the radar after sector bellwether

Accenture ( ACN ) beat its first-quarter profit and revenue

estimates and raised its annual forecast.

Meanwhile, Asian markets were trading lower after Wall

Street equities closed mixed overnight..

STOCKS TO WATCH

Indian telecom firm Bharti Airtel said it made an

early payment of 36.36 billion rupees to the Indian government,

clearing its dues for the spectrum it acquired in 2016.

Hyundai Motor India said it will equip its cars

with domestically manufactured batteries.

AU Small Finance Bank said India's central bank

approved re-appointment of Harun Rasid Khan as part-time

chairman.

($1 = 85.0960 Indian rupees)