BENGALURU, March 15 (Reuters) - Indian shares opened lower on Friday, tracking Asian peers as hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data kindled fears of delays in rate cuts.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index lost 0.37% to 22,064.855, while the BSE Sensex shed 0.29% to 72,886.77, as of 9:16 a.m. IST.

The benchmarks have lost about 1.7% each this week so far, and are on course for worst week since the end of October, 2023. (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)