Shipping stocks battered after US port strike ends

Shares in shipping companies fell heavily in Europe and Asia on Friday after workers and U.S. port operators agreed a deal to end a strike on the East and Gulf Coast docks far sooner than expected.

In early trading in Europe, shipping group A.P. Moeller-Maersk fell 7.7% to the bottom of the STOXX 600, while Hapag-Lloyd was down 12.4%.

Switzerland's Kuehne und Nagel was down 1.8%.

Evergreen Marine, Wan Hai Lines and Yang Ming Marine in Taiwan fell between 8.8% and 10% in their heaviest drops for several months.

Japanese shippers Nippon Yusen, Kawasaki Kisen and Mitsui OSK Lines logged drops between 7% and 9% and were the largest decliners on the Topix index.

"Investors who hoped for a short-term rebound in freight charges, which are in a downward trend, are selling as the strike ended," said Yang Ji-hwan, an analyst at Daishin Securities.

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee in Seoul, Tom Westbrook in Sydney and Lucy Raitano in London; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)