A brief pre-millennium recovery in the long-depressed Handy size bulk shipping markets appears to have been snuffed out before it got going, brokers said. A rush of available tonnage seeking charters ahead of the holiday period was to blame, brokers said. Collapsing Panamax rates, after their recent recovery based on pre-Christmas fixing, were also depressing the Handy sector. "For a couple of days this week things looked perkier. Rates moved up, but now they are in reverse," one Handy broker said. The J E Hyde Handy index dropped by nine points on Nov. 18, and brokers said heavy falls were on the way. Ships were being brought in early, particularly on the Continent, to find fixtures that would put them at sea with a cargo over the December 20-January 10 period, brokers said.