BENGALURU, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Indian shares were off to a muted start on Friday, after strong U.S. data indicated the Federal Reserve would have to keep hiking interest rates.

The Nifty 50 index was down 0.03% at 17,985.50 as of 9:18 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.01% to 60,340.88.

Most of the major sectoral indexes logged losses. Twenty-five of the Nifty 50 constituents fell, with information technology stocks declining ahead of the third quarter earnings season, set to begin on Monday.

Wall Street equities closed lower overnight after data showed private employers hired more workers than expected in December, suggesting strength in the labour market. The resilience could allow the Fed to boost its target interest rate above the 5.1% peak projected earlier.

Asian markets shrugged off rate worries on Friday, with the MSCI Asia ex Japan rising 0.77%.

Adding to losses in Indian equities is the rebound in oil prices, which rose over 1% on lower fuel inventories in the U.S.

Higher oil prices are a negative for oil-importing countries like India, where crude constitutes the bulk of the country's import bill.

Among individual stocks, Sobha rose over 2% after the company posted its best-ever sales in the third quarter, according to its business update. ($1 = 82.5680 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)