Shippers Winners & Losers: Diana Shipping

Updated from 1:23 p.m. ET

NEW YORK -- Shares of dry-bulk shippers accelerated Friday as activity for the sector's largest vessels rose slightly and prices for steel -- a major commodity they haul -- stabilized.

Rates for Cape-size vessels rose 1.2% to $8,997 per day on Friday, according to Dahlman Rose analyst Omar Notka. Cape-size vessels are so named because they are too big to fit through the Panama or Suez Canals and must instead navigate around the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn to travel between oceans.

Other vessel classes lost ground. All dry-bulk vessel rates have plunged in recent months as commodity demand fell off, prices of iron ore, coal and grain sank and tight credit froze shipping markets. Just one year ago, the daily rate for a Cape-size vessel was $153,295.

Notka said that although rates remain very low and a surplus of idle ships threatens to keep rates low for some time, stability in steel prices has managed somewhat to buoy the market.

In midday trading, Diana Shipping (DSX Quote) shares jumped $1.16, or 9.1%, to $13.92. DryShips (DRYS Quote) rose $1.83, or 17.14%, to $12.49. Genco Shipping & Trading (GNK Quote) gained $2.21, or 14.93%, to $17.01.