The benchmark Sensex on Thursday slumped nearly 582 points as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) remained hawkish while signalling that any interest rate cut will happen only if inflation aligns to the medium-term target of 4 per cent on a durable basis.

Sectors sensitive to interest rate cuts such as real estate and auto were among the worst hit, though Tata Motors was an outlier as its shares climbed 1.57 per cent.

The 30-share Sensex began on a weaker ground at 79420.49 and slipped 669.07 points during intra-day trades to touch a low of 78798.94. It subsequently lost 581.79 points to end at 78886.22. On the NSE, the Nifty declined 180.50 points to close at 24117 after plummeting 217.8 points to 24079.70.

“The domestic market reversed its earlier gains as the RBI held its current policy rates with a caution to revise upward the CPI and moderate the growth forecast for the first quarter,” Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Among the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Infosys, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement, PowerGrid, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies and Tata Steel were the biggest laggards as they lost up to 3.21 per cent. On the winning side, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ITC, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank rose up to 1.57 per cent.

Market circles added that global headwinds — such as the escalating tensions between Israel and Iran and uncertainty over the extent of an interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve — are likely to keep stocks in a rangebound territory with a weak bias.

In the real estate space, shares of Godrej Properties dropped 3.41 per cent on the BSE.