Dominic Chopping of The Wall Street Journal reports that a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could lead to a reduction or complete stop of Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. He writes:
Shares in shipping and logistics providers came under heavy selling pressure Tuesday as investors digested news of a possible cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which could see containerships return to the Red Sea and send freight rates lower.
Houthi rebels in Yemen began attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea in December last year in response to the war between Israeli forces and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, forcing containership operators to take longer, more expensive routes around southern Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to avoid the region. […]
Shares in Hapag-Lloyd fell 9% and Maersk shares were off nearly 7% in trading in Europe. China’s Cosco Shipping Holdings’ shares fell just over 10% in Shanghai and Taiwan’s Yang Ming Transport fell nearly 10%.
Shares in European logistics operators Kuehne + Nagel International and DSV, two of the world’s largest freight forwarders, fell 2.9% and 1.7%, respectively.
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