Analysts expect economy stocks to continue to be under pressure till a clearer picture on the diesel price hike emerges. Thanks to this fear, scrips like Sail, Tisco, Telco, ACC, Larsen & Toubro and India Cement were among the losers on Monday. According to a Mumbai-based broker, ``Since the diesel prices has already been hiked by a steep 40 per cent, any further rise would mean a severe dent in the bottomline for companies which use diesel for power generation or rely on roads mainly for transport of their products to markets.''

Sectors like steel and cement (main user of diesel) which have just started to show signs of revival are going to be the worst hit. These industries are power intensive and thus rely on diesel for generation of power. Both the sectors use roads for despatching their products to different markets. Both steel majors, Sail andTisco lost ground on the bourses. Sail closed at Rs 11.55 on Monday against its Thursday close of Rs 12.05.

The scrip closed 2.53 per cent lower on Monday than its Friday close. Similarly, Tisco has lost Rs 8.5 in the last two trading sessions. Even in the cement sector, with the sole exception of Gujarat Ambuja, all cement scrips were on the downtrend. Gujarat Ambuja Cement, which uses sea route to transport its cement to southern India, today closed at Rs 572.9 against its Friday close of Rs 561. However, others were not that fortunate. On Monday, Larsen & Toubro lost 3.63 per cent to close at Rs 397.5. The scrip was changing hands at Rs 418 on Novemeber 25. The market leader, ACC which was trading at Rs 206.3 on Thursday, today closed at Rs 194.6.

Even heavy commercial vehicle giant, Telco, is also likely to be hit in case of a further hike in the diesel prices. The scrip today lost three per cent to close at Rs 226.5 as against its quotation of Rs 235.8 on Thursday at the end of the day. AshokLeyland, the other HCV manufacturer in the specified list, however was spared by the operators. Marketmen feel that with the diesel price hike decision overhanging on cyclical stocks, they might continue to be under pressure. However, analysts are of the opinion that, ``The market has already discounted the price hike.

Moreover, another hike in diesel prices after a recent steep hike may not be politically acceptable to participants of the BJP-led alliance.'' They also feel that the hike, if any, will be not more than 5-7 per cent. Meanwhile, refineries stocks which had a dream run on the bourses on the rumours of a reduction in import duty on crude oil, had only sellers at their counters.

Both Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum were top losers on the Mumbai Stock Exchange (BSE). HPCL lost 4.5 per cent to close on Rs 224.4, while BPCL lost 4.08 per cent to close at Rs 395.