The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose on Thursday to snap a six-day streak of losses, boosted by higher demand for panamax and smaller vessels.
The overall index, which considers rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, climbed 11 points, or 1.3 percent, to 855 points.
The capesize index shed 27 points, or 2.65 percent, to end at 993 points, its lowest level since Feb. 22.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, declined $67 to $7,618.
The panamax index gained 39 points, or 3.64 percent, to end at 1,109 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, rose $318 to $8,888.
Among indexes for smaller vessels, the supramax index rose 10 points to 734 points, while the handysize index inched up 2 points to 447 points.
(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru)