Baltic Index Logs First Weekly Gain in Five Weeks

Feb 7 (Reuters) – The Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk commodities, rose supported by strong rates across all vessel segments on Friday, and registered its first weekly gain in five.

* The index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, gained 22 points to 815 points, its highest since January 24. The index rose more than 7% for the week.

* The capesize index .BACI was up 28 points at 840 points. However, the index was down 7% this week, extending losses for the fourth consecutive w…