(Updates at 9:44 a.m. IST)

By Bharath Rajeswaran

BENGALURU, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Indian shares were little

changed on Wednesday and are expected to tread water through the

session ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision and

commentary due after market hours.

The Nifty 50 index was up 0.05% at 25,430.05 points,

while the S&P BSE Sensex also added 0.05% at 83,113, as

of 9:44 a.m. IST.

Other Asian markets were also muted.

While the Fed is widely expected to lower rates, the size of

the cut, whether 25 basis points or 50 bps, was still not clear.

The odds of a 50-bps cut have climbed to 65% from 34% last week.

While a bigger cut will likely see foreign funds shifting to

emerging markets such as India in search of higher returns, it

has prompted fears that the Fed may have begun its easing cycle

a little too late, at the cost of economic growth.

"Recent market action suggests that participants are in a

wait-and-watch mode ahead of the Fed meeting," said Ajit Mishra,

senior vice president of research at Religare Broking.

The Fed's reason for its decision and commentary on future

policy will influence the near-term trajectory of Indian

equities in terms of foreign inflows and the outlook for

U.S.-dependent sectors such as IT and pharma, three analysts

said.

IT stocks fell 2.4%, dragged by a 2.5% drop in

Infosys after Macquarie said that the company will

continue to lag rival Tata Consultancy Services.

Pharma index shed 0.4%.

Overall, eight of 13 sectors logged gains. The small-

and mid-caps were little changed.

Among individual stocks, Torrent Power rose 3%

after getting a letter of intent for a 1,500 megawatt pumped

hydro storage project in the state of Maharashtra.

Emcure Pharma rose 4.2% after Kotak Institutional

Equities started coverage with "buy", citing likely sustained

earnings growth.