Baltic index inches down on weaker demand across vessels

Nov 19 (Reuters) - The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, tracking rates for ships ferrying dry bulk commodities, edged down on Monday, hurt by lower demand across vessel segments.

* The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax and supramax shipping vessels, snapped two straight sessions of gains and lost 8 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,023 points.

* The capesize index dipped 0.66 percent, or 7 points, to 1,050 points.

* Average daily earnings for capesizes, which typically transport 170,000-180,000 tonne cargoes such as iron ore and coal, declined by $82 to $8,722.

* The panamax index fell 16 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,437 points, its lowest since Aug. 15.

* Average daily earnings for panamaxes, which usually carry coal or grain cargoes of about 60,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, decreased by $125 to $11,497.

* The supramax index eased 5 points to 964 points. (Reporting by K. Sathya Narayanan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)