The domestic stock markets took a big hammering, today, even as the Reserve Bank cut its key policy rate by 25 basis points, while the rupee fell sharply against the dollar. The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange plunged 516 points, or 2 percent, to close at 24,884, on across-the-board selling by investors. This was the biggest single-day fall of the Sensex in nearly two months. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange slumped 156 points, to 7,603. Other key Asian markets in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore slumped between 0.8 percent and 2.4 percent. Major European bourses in the UK, Germany and France also took a big beating. And at the forex market, the rupee ended a nearly 2-week winning streak, depreciating 25 paise, to 66.46 agaisnt the dollar.