BENGALURU: Indian shares slid about 1.5% early on Thursday, in line with weakness in broader Asia as the U.S. Federal Reserve's signal to steadily tighten policy soured global investor sentiment.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell 1.47% to 17,034.45 by 0352 GMT and the S&P BSE Sensex dropped 1.48% to 57,033.99 as trade resumed after the Republic day holiday. Both indexes were on track for a sixth session of fall in seven.

Asian shares fell to their lowest in more than 14 months after the Fed chairman on Wednesday said that with inflation high, the central bank this year plans to steadily clamp down on credit and end the extraordinary support it provided to the U.S. economy during the pandemic.

In India, only four of the 50 stocks on the Nifty 50 index were in positive territory while all major Nifty sub-indexes slid.

Nifty's volatility index, which indicates the degree of volatility traders expect over the next 30 days in the Nifty50 index, was up 9.4%.

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) ((Chandini.M@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822697))