The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, snapped a 14-session winning streak on Tuesday as rates for larger vessels fell.
The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, closed down 5 points, or 0.41 percent, at 1,200 points.
The capesize index lost 25 points, or 1.01 percent, to end at 2,441 points.
Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 150,000-tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, were down $238 to $17,842.
The panamax index finished down 2 points, or 0.18 percent, at 1,101 points.
Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes, decreased $18 to $8,857.
Among smaller vessels, the supramax index rose 2 points to close at 886 points, while the handysize index rose 2 points to end at 512 points.
(Reporting by Nithin Prasad in Bengaluru)