SHARE PRICES AND MARKET ANALYSIS

A snapshot of bike and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 9 December 2022. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.

USA — LACK OF XMAS CHEER

Repeated data dumps continue to underline how the US economy is still over-heating. The warnings these flash up remind investors that central bank policy will therefore keep interest rates higher for longer, to curb inflation. As a result, risk appetite is increasingly thin, as evidenced by weakening Wall Street market indices.

The past week’s dose of doom saw ignominious retreats for all of them. The blue-chip S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average posted respective 3.4% and 2.8% declines. S&P’s MidCap 400 fell by a harder 4.1% and the Nasdaq Composite incurred a 4% loss.

Biker stocks weren’t popular inclusions on Yuletide shopping lists. Harley-Davidson’s twin listings, represented by its petrolhead HOG and electrified LVWR tickers, both took more severe spankings. Indian Motorcycles parent Polaris plunged by almost 10%.

EUROPE — BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE

Freezing winter weather finally swept across the UK and mainland Europe, menacing already threatened finite energy resources. The only warm glow came from missiles and artillery raining down on the increasingly desperate battlefields of Ukraine.

As European domestic and industrial consumers began to burn off their gas reserves, markets inevitably fell. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax closed 1.1% in arrears while the FTSE MIB in Milan sank by 1.4%. Motorcycle-related shares turned consistently negative by varying degrees.

JAPAN — SOME LIGHT RELIEF?

Asian stocks got a boost from relaxation of China’s zero-Covid stance, as investors bet on signs of recovery for the world’s second-biggest economy early in the New Year. Japanese sentiment reacted accordingly, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index returned to positivity by 0.4%. However, the messages from motorcycle manufacturers were decidedly mixed.

INDIA — NOT INVITED TO THE PARTY

Indian stock markets endured their worst week since the end of September, as Mumbai’s BSE Sensex 30 index finished 1.1% down. Primary influence was a massive jump in government borrowing equivalent to $40bn, to cope with farming fertiliser and pump fuel prices running amok owing to unforeseen knock-on effects from the Ukraine war.

India’s three largest indigenous motorcycle producers, a common bellwether for speculative investor confidence (or lack of it), all lost value in response.

CHINA — BACK IN BUSINESS

China’s sudden move to ease stringent Covid lockdown requirements and get its industrial heartland back to work drew widespread applause, even though the risks of an infection surge and mounting death toll are enormous.

Market indices certainly hailed approval. Shanghai’s SSE Composite put on 1.6% and the blue-chip CSI 300 climbed by a muscular 3.3%. The Beijing government also helped by relaxing some corporate lending controls to further promote economic recovery.

However, these policy shifts weren’t immediately rewarded by raised sentiment for Chinese motorcycle industry prospects. A minority of bike manufacturers benefited from improved share prices.