BENGALURU, March 22 Reuters Indian shares were flat on Friday as a 3 tumble in IT stocks due to sector bellwether Accenture39;s revenue warning offset optimism around U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts.

The bluechip NSE Nifty 50 index was mostly flat at 22,032.90, while the BSE Sensex added 0.06 to 72,677.82, as of 1017 a.m. IST.

On Thursday, Accenture highlighted tightening client budgets and cut revenue growth forecast for fiscal 2024 by 100200 basis points, suggesting a weak demand outlook.

The IT index was the top sectoral loser, with Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, HCLTech, LTIMindtree and Infosys falling between 2.3 and 4.5. The IT stocks were also the top five Nifty 50 losers.

Barring IT, all the other 12 major sectors gained, helped by optimism from the Fed maintaining its outlook for rate cuts in 2024.

Global market outlook remains bullish as major indices hit record highs, with the U.S. Fed predicting three rate cuts this year, said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP Research, Mehta Equities.

Realty stocks rose 1.3, led by a 5 jump in Prestige Estates Projects on a land acquisition for a township project in the national capital region.

Sarda Energy Minerals jumped 12 after its subsidiary received a letter of intent for a licence for an iron ore block in Maharashtra.

Metro Brands climbed 4 after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the footwear maker39;s stock with a buy rating at a Streethigh price target of 1,450 rupees.

Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Bharath…