While there are doubts about whether the property and casualty insurance industry is getting set to enter a hard-market cycle, it increasingly looks like rates are beginning to stabilize in many lines, according to observations by an industry report and some chief executives.

Commercial insurance is not on course for a hard market, but there are significant pricing and underwriting demands that suggest an end to the prolonged soft market, says a panel of insurance brokers.

Bermuda's Hiscox and Montpelier Re, as well as Luxembourg's Flagstone Re, say second quarter severe weather in the U.S. cost them each tens of millions of dollars. Hiscox's estimate of losses from the Japan earthquake is now at the high end of its range.