All indexes of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell for the fourth consecutive day today, driven by a decline in most of the companies.

The drop might come apparently from the expected increase in the cost of doing business for the listed firms following the fresh hike of gas and electricity prices last week, intensifying pressure on their bottom lines.  

As a result, the key index, DSEX, ended the first trading day of the week lower at 6,215 as it slipped 39 points, or 0.63 percent.  

The DSES, which represents Shariah-compliant companies listed on the premier bourse in the country, lost 0.73 percent to 1,349 while the DS30, which makes the blue-chip firms, was down 0.61 percent to 2,113. 

Turnover, however, rose 7.2 percent to Tk 982 crore. Of the issues that traded on the DSE, 110 advanced, 242 declined and 40 were unchanged. 

The Caspi, the broader index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange shed 87 points, or 0.48 percent, to 17,841. Of the companies, 95 went up, 126 were down, and 39 saw no price fluctuations. 

Turnover slipped to Tk 18.18 crore from Tk 19.81 crore.

In order to lessen its subsidy burden, the government on Thursday increased electricity prices by Tk 0.70 a unit effective from February 1. Earlier, last week, the authorities increased by Tk 0.75 per cubic metre the price of gas supplied to power plants and for captive power generation. 

The moves are expected to increase the cost of production for companies, which have been under pressure for the past two years owing to higher energy bills and US dollar prices as well as a slowdown in sales amid surging consumer prices.  

For example, electricity tariffs rose roughly 5 percent three times in the last financial year of 2022-23, resulting in a compound increase of around 15.7 percent. Likewise, the price of diesel rose 37 percent and furnace oil 41.4 percent.

Similarly, the price of gas for industries was hiked by 150 percent to 178 percent in FY23. Besides, driven by a 25 percent fall in the price of the taka against the US dollar in the past couple of years, the overall raw materials price increased by 10 percent to 20 percent.