Surge in COVID-19 cases may curtail the rally in crude tanker stocks

Crude tanker shipping stocks have been trending upwards from the start of February, which has led to an 18.2% YTD gain in the Drewry crude tanker index. The index comprehensively outperformed the three key US market indices – while Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P 500 gained 6.6% and 4.1% respectively over the same period, Nasdaq Composite (0.7%) remained stable as the gains in the first half of February were offset by the steady decline in the latter half of the month with the index remaining range-bound, thereafter. All constituent stocks of the Drewry crude tanker index registered double-digit gains since the beginning of the year irrespective of their fleet composition and chartering mix. Teekay Tankers (TNK) surged 30.8% followed by Tsakos Energy Navigation (TNP) with a gain of 24.5% and Frontline (FRO) with a gain of 22.7%. DHT Holdings (DHT) improved by 16.6% while Nordic American Tankers (NAT) increased by 14.6% and Euronav (EURN) registered a gain of 12.9%.