Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty continued to trade lower on Thursday (August 8) after the Reserve Bank of India decided to keep the policy rate unchanged for the ninth time in a row, saying food inflation remains stubborn.

Continuous foreign fund outflows and weak trends in the U.S. markets also drove domestic equities lower.

Extending its early trade decline, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 570.09 points to 78,897.92. The NSE Nifty tanked 178.2 points to 24,119.30.

The rate increase cycle was paused in April last year after six consecutive rate hikes, aggregating to 250 basis points since May 2022.

Announcing the third bi-monthly monetary policy for the current financial year, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to keep the repo rate unchanged at 6.5%.

He said MPC will remain watchful of elevated food inflation.

"RBI MPC is in wait and watch mode and has kept the interest rates unchanged, waiting for clues from the largest Central Bank of the world, the US Federal Reserve, before acting. Stock markets will continue to consolidate in the meanwhile," said Umeshkumar Mehta, CIO, SAMCO Mutual Fund.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, Power Grid, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement and Asian Paints were the biggest laggards.

Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra and ITC were among the gainers during the initial trade.

In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong traded higher while Seoul and Tokyo quoted lower.

The U.S. markets ended lower on Wednesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹3,314.76 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

"During the last four days, FIIs have sold ₹20,228 crore in the cash market. This is a rational thing to do given India’s elevated valuations and the concerns surrounding recession fears in the US and further issues relating to the unwinding of the yen carry trade," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.17% to USD 78.46 a barrel.

On Wednesday, the BSE benchmark Sensex rallied 874.94 points or 1.11% to settle at 79,468.01. During the day, it jumped 1,046.13 points or 1.33 per cent to 79,639.20.

The NSE Nifty jumped 304.95 points or 1.27% to 24,297.50. Intraday, it surged 345.15 points or 1.43% to 24,337.70.