New York-listed tanker stocks logged solid gains in trading on Thursday amid a drastic downward swing in oil prices and a lack of firm details on results of talks among producers aimed at a supply cut.
Other shipping shares also moved upwards as the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the trading week with its best performance since 1938 on more stimulus announcements by the Federal Reserve and better news on the coronavirus outbreak.
Oil prices plunged after big initial gains surrounding hopes for the talks among Opec, Russia and nine other producers through a video conference on Thursday.
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 9.3% to $22.76 a barrel, giving back an earlier 11% gain, while Brent crude toppled 4.1% to $31.28, flushing earlier gains of more than 10%.
Analysts said conflicting information about the depth of cuts, and suspicions they would be too little, too late amid massive demand destruction from the pandemic, turned the tables on sentiment.
The same sort of calculations appeared to boost tanker shares, which have benefited from floating storage opportunities and strong spot rates created by Saudi Arabia's increased production.
However, as TradeWinds revealed on Thursday, cuts reported to be as large as an unprecedented 10m barrels per day are expected to hurt spot rates, with floating storage still strong in the short term.
A diversified tanker owner with VLCC presence, International Seaways led all the crude-sector gainers with a 16% leap. VLCC owner Frontline and dirty-clean hybrid Diamond S Shipping followed with 10% gains, trailed closely by suezmax specialist Nordic American Tankers at 9%.
Teekay Tankers piled on 7%, while VLCC heavyweight DHT Holdings and mixed-tanker owner Tsakos Energy Navigation both climbed 6%.
On the clean side, Ireland-based Ardmore Shipping ran up 10%, while larger rival Scorpio Tankers gained 2%.
