SHARES of index counters Sembcorp Industries : U96 -9.17% and Keppel Corporation : BN4 -5.17% fell amid heavy trading the day after the Energy Market Authority (EMA) said that it will introduce a temporary price cap on wholesale electricity prices.

 

As at 3 pm on Tuesday (Jun 20), Sembcorp plunged as much as 11.6 per cent or S$0.66 to S$5.01 with some 16.1 million of its shares changing hands, well above the counter&rsquo s average volume of 4.5 million. It later recovered slightly to S$5.12, down 9.7 per cent or S$0.55 as at 3.14 pm. 

 

Keppel dipped 5.9 per cent or S$0.41 to trade as low as S$6.55 as at 3.01 pm, as 5.3 million of its securities were transacted. The counter gradually clawed back to S$6.62, down 4.9 per cent or S$0.34 as at 3.13 pm. 

 

No married deals were recorded for either counter at the time, ShareInvestor data indicated. 

 

Sembcorp shares were down 9.2 per cent to S$5.15, and Keppel shares were 5.2 per cent lower at S$6.60 at the market close on Tuesday.

 

Sembcorp and Keppel are in the business of providing power on Singapore&rsquo s open electricity market through their respective subsidiaries, Sembcorp Power and Keppel Electric.

 

The share price activity of both counters came after EMA on Monday announced that its planned temporary price cap will take effect on Jul 1 to prevent huge swings in electricity prices.

 

This emerged amid rising electricity costs in Singapore, as a result of the global energy crisis brought on by the Russia-Ukraine war.