BENGALURU, May 16 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Thursday, led by information technology stocks, and tracked a rally in other Asian equities after softer-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation raised expectations of at least two interest rate cuts in 2024.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.17% at 22,240.30 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.23% to 73,140.58, as of 10:01 a.m. IST.

Nine of the 13 major sectors logged gains.

U.S.-rate sensitive IT stocks rose 1.2%. All ten constituents of the index advanced, adding between 1% and 4%. Tech Mahindra, LTIMindtree, Infosys and Wipro were among the top five Nifty 50 gainers.

Indian IT companies derive a significant portion of their revenue from the United States.

U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected in April, spurring Wall Street equities to record closing highs overnight.

Other Asian peers rallied on Thursday, buoyed by the inflation data.

"Moderating U.S. inflation should bring relief to all Asian stocks as it eases concerns of higher-for-longer rates," Nomura analysts, led by Chetan Seth, said in a note.

Metal stocks rose 0.5%, helped by a weaker dollar. A weaker dollar makes metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Telecom services provider Bharti Airtel gained 3% after several brokerages, including Nomura, Motilal Oswal and Nuvama Institutional Equities, hiked their target price for the stock, citing likely gains from imminent tariff hikes. The stock was also among the top five Nifty 50 gainers.

The broader, more domestically-focussed small- and mid-caps added about 0.5% each, outperforming the benchmarks.

Tiles maker Somany Ceramics and rail wagons maker Titagarh Rail Systems surged 16% and 6%, respectively, buoyed by a quarterly rise in profit. They were among the top gainers in the small- and mid-cap indexes.

Investors also await the quarterly results of automaker Mahindra & Mahindra, due later in the day. The stock was down 0.25%, ahead of its results.

(Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Sonia Cheema)