Shares in Scorpio Tankers surged and Deutsche Bank upgraded the company's rating after the shipowner cut its dividend to keep cash on its balance sheet.

Scorpio's share price jumped 12.7% to  $4.03 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, adding $78.5m to its market value based on nearly 175 million shares outstanding.

The jump came after the Emanuele Lauro-led company said it decided to chop its dividend to $0.01