A better day for the Panamax sector today after yesterday’s sell off. Rates remained stable in the sector with November futures up 1.3% at USD 12,350, followed by Q1 futures which are looking to close 0.75% higher at USD 9,350 as of 16:00 GMT. Further down the curve futures have been more resilient with the Cal 21 futures posting small gains of around 0.5%.
Having suffered a bit of a bloodbath yesterday, Capesize, although lower has seen a drop in selling interest. November futures are down another 3% and based on the depth of the pullback it would suggest the front month bull cycle might be drawing to a season close. However, having dropped 6.35% yesterday this is showing a momentum slowdown. Again, on the back end where there is less effect on the immediate index pricing, the Cal 21 futures are effectively flat on the day.
Very subdued on the smaller vessels with the Supramax up less than 0.5% on the front months and flat on the on the Q1 and Cal futures. The reality is the sector has spent the last two months rangebound between USD 11,675 – USD 10,350 and is lacking direction.
Elsewhere, Brent futures have posted further gains, having traded as high as USD 43.27 before pulling back to USD 42.87, which is around 1.7% up on the previous day’s close. That makes four days of higher pricing for Brent as the Gulf of Mexico braces itself for Hurricane Delta which has forced operators to shut 80% of production, equating to about 1.5 million barrels a day according to Bloomberg estimates.
UK stocks have produced another positive move with the futures up 0.77% as they continue to shrug off Brexit woes. However, U.S. stocks remain bullish which as a leading benchmark should give some support to the smaller exchanges.
The DXY (Bloomberg Dollar Index) remains technically weak but has entered a holding pattern having sold off on Trump’s COVID test results last week. Interesting times lie ahead for the Greenback. Joe Biden is now 10 points ahead (Bloomberg) but if history has taught us anything, it’s that polls can be unreliable. Will the dollar like Biden? Historically it hasn’t liked his party – and it fears what it sees as the ‘left-wing’ vice president candidate – but then one could argue the Dollar did OK under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.