US-listed shipping equities have partially recovered from recent lows, but remain sharply down for the year.
At the closing bell on 28 August, the 53 shipping companies listed on NYSE and NASDAQ were down 46% from their 52-week highs, according to an analysis by IHS Maritime. Over nine-tenths of these declines preceded the recent market gyrations.
On 24 August, at the peak of the latest selloff, shipping shares had lost 15% of their value compared to their 17 August closing price. After a subsequent rebound, they were down 5% on 28 August versus 17 August.
During the last two weeks of August, shipping shares fell by more than the Dow Jones Industrial Average and dry bulk shares dropped by more than either tanker shares or shipping stocks in general. On 26 August, dry bulk shares were down 16.5% from their 17 August closing price.
Trading volume in shipping equities surged during the last week of August. There were 44.9 million US-listed shipping shares traded on 24 August, up 83% from 17 August. Trading volume fell back to 26.1 million on 28 August. During the 17-28 August period, tanker shares were the most heavily traded, representing 43% of overall volume.
The trading in shipping shares continues to be volatile. Following their partial recovery in the prior sessions, shipping shares were down yet again in early trading on 31 August.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
