Frontline cement companies' stocks were under pressure in morning trade after reports that the Competition panel may penalise them heavily for alleged cartelisation.

The companies have been charged with inflating prices and reducing production.

Most of the leading cement stocks were trading in the red, albeit marginally, and have recovered from the lows they hit an hour into the day's trading today on the BSE.

Cement major ACC was trading at Rs 1,257, a loss of Rs 14.10. The stock had bounced back from the lows of the morning of Rs 1,233 and had witnessed a trading volume of about 40,000 shares. The stock is trading at about 30 per cent up from the 52-week low of Rs 939 that it touched on July 12 last year.

Ambuja Cements was another stock that pulled back from its morning low of Rs 170.55 and was trading at Rs 172 (share face value Rs 2) with a huge volume of 1.21 lakh shares. The share was down by Rs 3.25.

UltraTech Cement also recovered to Rs 1,427, a loss of Rs 3.55, after slipping to a low of Rs 1,413. Shree Cement was holding at Rs 2,650, down by Rs 11.45. This was another cement major that has seen significant value appreciation from its 52- week low of Rs 1,570 that it hit on September 12, 2011.

Madras Cements was marginally up to Rs 150.25 from its low of Rs 149.55. The stock was down by Rs 2.55.

JK Lakshmi Cement was down only by 10 paise at Rs 64.10 and this stock also had pulled back from its low of Rs 63.20 in the morning trade today.

India Cements was down to Rs 84.05, a loss of Rs 1.30 but it clawed back from its morning low of Rs 82.30.

Chettinad Cement was another stock that had witnessed a fall from the morning high. From Rs 827 the scrip fell to Rs 815, a loss of Rs 5.30. But this stock is not expected to witness any significant value erosion as the management has proposed a delisting of the stock which has partly propelled the stock's rally in recent weeks.

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