The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index rose on Thursday after an eight-session losing streak, on higher rates for capesize vessels.
The overall index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose 20 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,329 points.
The capesize index rose 83 points, or 4.3 percent, to 2,025 points. Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, rose on Thursday after eight straight sessions of losses. Rates rose $578 to $16,648. Capesize fell nearly 11 percent in the past eight sessions.
The panamax index rose seven points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,331 points. Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, was up $54 to $10,696.
The supramax index was down 12 points at 1,055 points.
Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman