The first full week of September is supposed to be the time when investors get back from their beach holidays and start to take a serious look at stocks, including shipping equities.
That evaluation has not begun in an encouraging way.
The 29 New York-listed stocks under the coverage of investment bank Jefferies posted an average one-week drop of 1% on Friday, with twice as many decliners as gainers.
There was perhaps some small comfort in shipping's performance against the broader market, as the S&P 500 dropped 1.7% and the small-cap Russell 2000 index stumbled 2.8%.
But even after the blah week, the Jefferies Shipping Index is up 67.5% year to date and 53% year over year.
The result broke a two-week run for tanker stocks, which had led shipping performance despite hire rates that remain in the doldrums.
This time tanker stocks dropped 3%, tied for worst performance among the operating sectors, despite a week of increased rates, especially on the crude side.
Tankers saw double-digit percentage gains in VLCCs, suezmaxes and aframaxes, with VLCCs topping the trend at a 24.6% surge to $5,010 per day — still a trough-market level.
LR1 rates ticked up on the clean products side to just under $15,000 per day, but LR1s and MRs both suffered double-digit declines.
Listings fared better on the dry side, with bulker stocks up 1% despite a dip in rates and containerships rising the same amount on persistent strong earnings.
Prospects for the latter continue to excite Jefferies lead shipping analyst Randy Giveans.
"Last week, French liner CMA CGM announced it would pause any further spot rate increases until February 2022," Giveans noted.
"Although this could be seen as a gesture of goodwill to its customers and regulators, it also likely means that CMA CGM's fourth quarter 2021 capacity is almost sold out, and the liner is encouraging customers to sign term contracts to lengthen the cycle instead of trying to maximize near-term profits. Regardless of rate caps, fourth quarter of 2021 is set to be a record quarter for liners."
Boxships had three listings in the top five on the week, with Israeli liner company Zim second overall at an 8.3% gain, followed by Capital Product Partners at 3.9% and Atlas at 2.3%.
Dry bulk's Diana Shipping lead all listings with a 9.1% surge as the Greek owner continues to see stronger rates as it renews its trademark charters.
Gas stocks struggled, with LNG listings down 3% and LPG operators 1%.
