One of the top losers today was Nagarjuna Fertilisers which lost 10 per cent to close the day at Rs 17.65. Some of the other major scrips which hit the lower end of the circuit were Century Textiles, LML Ltd, Oriental Bank, Satyam Computers, Siemens, Pentafour Software, Carrier Aircon, Videocon International, IDBI, Reckitt & Colman, NIIT and Infosys.

As a result of the 380-odd point slide in the BSE 30-share Index in the past five sessions, as many as 30 companies have either hit their 52-week low or are within striking distance of their respective 52-week lows. Prominent among them are IDBI, SBI, MTNL, Mahindra & Mahindra, Colgate-Palmolive, Tata Engineering, Tata Power and Carrier Aircon.

IDBI has dropped to its all-time low of Rs 66.25 on the Bombay StockExchange, well below its initial offer price of Rs 130. State Bank of India's scrip, too, is inching towards its 52-week low of Rs 197. The scrip closed the day at Rs 198.2 on the BSE.

The fear of narrowing spreads and an increase in non-performing assets (NPAs) has seen many banking and financial Institutions' stocks in the BSE's group A fall close to their respective 52-week lows. Apart from IDBI and SBI, Bank of Baroda, Oriental Bank, HDFC Bank and IFCI ended close to their 52-week lows on Friday. Bank of India has once again dipped below its offer price of Rs 45.

Increase in the excise duty on the multi-utility vehicles in the budget has sent the Mahindra & Mahindra and Telco scrips tumbling on the bourses. As a result, Mahindra & Mahindra has lost more than Rs 40 on the BSE in the past five trading sessions from Rs 241 to Rs 200 and is trading close to its 52-week low of Rs 198. Telco's scrip too has lost almost Rs 35 to Rs 208, close to its 52-week low of Rs 205.2, thanks to the backdrop of a 61 percent fall in net.

The budget proposals to increase excise on the multi-utility vehicles would adversely affect both Mahindra & Mahindra and Telco. These companies would have to pass on the excise hike to the customers, a tough option when they are facing a fall in demand growth. Mahindra & Mahindra announced a price hike ranging between Rs 11,200 and 16,800 on its utility vehicles today, with immediate effect. The automobile companies would also be affected as a result of the hike in excise in tyres and hike in import duty on cold rolled coils.

Even defensive stocks like State Bank of India, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam (MTNL), Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), Cadburys (India) and Hindustan Lever Chemicals failed to withstand the selling wave triggered in the post-budget session on June 1.

Foreign institutional institutions (FIIs) like Morgan Stanley and Jardine Flaming are believed to have taken up delivery-based selling in SBI, BHEL and Cadburys. Although the information-technology stocks do not formpart of the Sensex, heavy selling pressure on these counters has sparked off the selling wave. A major selling in the information-technology stocks was primarily triggered as most of the stocks were yielding reasonable returns to the investors.

This time around, multinational stocks too have felt the heat and have lost substantial ground. Philips, Rhone Poulenc, Digital Equipment and Siemens have lost more than 20 per cent in the past four trading sessions. SKF Bearings, Thomas Cook, Colgate (India), Esab India, Carrier Aircon, Reckitt & Colman, Glaxo and Atlas Copco have lost substantial values in the past five trading sessions and are already within the close range of their respective 52-week lows.