A snapshot of bike and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 10 March 2023. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — LOSING THE PLOT
Further assurances from the US Federal Reserve that more interest rate rises were on the way to curb inflation, and the first failure of a high-profile American investment bank since the 2008 financial crisis, sent a wave of panic through Wall Street, engendering an equities sell-off and global contagion.
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) specialised in high-risk funding of tech start-ups and essentially ran out of money to service the debt mountain this strategy entailed. Besides the Californian parent’s collapse, SVB subsidiaries elsewhere, including one in the UK, also became immediately insolvent and shut their doors.
New York market indices amply demonstrated the scale of grief. The blue-chip S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average respectively plunged to close 4.5% and 4.4% down. S&P’s MidCap 400 was really hammered, finishing 7.4% in arrears. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite copped a 4.7% loss.
Banking stocks took the brunt of trader discomfort but pressing the escape button even extended to motorcycle manufacturers. Harley-Davidson’s value was particularly damaged, diving by a dramatic double-digit percentage. Some sort of SVB-related debt exposure associated with its LiveWire spin-off IPO may have been the culprit.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 39.76 | -16.4% | -16.7% |
| Polaris Industries | 111.52 | -3.6% | -3.2% |
| Textron | 69.26 | -7.2% | -6.1% |
| Ideanomics (Energica) | 0.11 | -8.3% | -31.2% |
| Niu Technologies | 3.60 | -21.7% | -22.7% |
| LiveWire | 6.77 | -3.6% | -11% |
EUROPE — RAGGED NERVES
A measure of US angst inevitably infected European bourses. And weakening trade data from China impinged on German automotives, given their dependence on Chinese vehicle demand. Frankfurt’s Dax Performance index fell by 1%, while BMW and Volkswagen Group took harder knocks — not that their motorcycling side lines had anything to do with it. In adjacent Austria, the Wiener Börse ATX sank by 2.7% but KTM parent Pierer got away with lesser punishment.
The Borsa Italiana’s FTSE MIB index in Milan closed 2% down. National PTW flag carrier Piaggio shrugged off any pressure, though, rising back up to the four euro mark it had previously earned thanks to good annual results.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 98.33 | -3.1% | +0.6% |
| Volkswagen | 174.75 | -3.8% | +6.6% |
| Pierer Mobility | 84.10 | -0.5% | +4.5% |
| Piaggio Group | 4.00 | +2.8% | +4.7% |
JAPAN — POSITIVE IN PARTS
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock index stayed shiny side up for a second consecutive week, this time adding 0.8% — and boasted unique positivity among leading indices worldwide. However, perks from sound quarterly results began to peter out in the motorcycling firmament, although Honda and Yamaha were still comfortably ahead on a monthly basis.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 3613 | +0.8% | +13.8% |
| Yamaha | 3600 | +1.3% | +8.4% |
| Suzuki | 4889 | -0.1% | +3.9% |
| Kawasaki | 3000 | -2.1% | +3% |
INDIA — PAINT IT BLACK
Holi, a Hindu festival of colours celebrating the advent of spring by throwing paint at your friends, shortened Mumbai’s trading week and no doubt provided a welcome distraction from weightier corporate scandals and lacklustre stock market activity. Owing to the latter, Bombay Stock Exchange’s BSE Sensex 30 yardstick fell by 1.1% and most motorcycle producers continued to lose value in small increments. The trend-bucker was Bajaj, which has lots of export markets.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 2440.30 | -0.9% | -5.5% |
| Bajaj Auto | 3821.90 | +2.4% | -0.3% |
| TVS Motor | 1072.20 | +0.2% | -0.3% |
| Eicher Motors | 3116.10 | -0.4% | -3% |
| Mahindra | 1226.70 | -3.3% | -10.2% |
CHINA — ONE MAN, THE ONLY VOTE
Chinese president Xi Jinping consolidated his absolute power by being handed a ground-breaking third term in office by the Communist Party Congress, also installing a fresh bunch of yes men to replace his previous economic advisers.
China’s lowest growth targets for many years were announced too, pushing the all-share SSE Composite index in Shanghai and blue-chip CSI 300 sharply downwards by respective 3% and 4% declines. Almost all biker stocks made losses. The only notable exception was Jialing parent CETC. Although it has a small traded free float, CETC is actually a state-controlled holding company, its board of directors packed with Communist Party nominees.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 23.68 | -8.6% | -12.2% |
| Zongshen | 6.84 | -1.1% | +0.9% |
| Sundiro | 2.26 | -1.7% | -3.8% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 14.83 | +0.5% | -3.4% |
| Lifan | 3.91 | -5.6% | -8.6% |
| Loncin | 5.06 | -6.5% | -8.3% |
| Linhai | 9.23 | -5.5% | -2.3% |
| Guangzhou Auto | 11.09 | -5.5% | -4.6% |
| CFMoto | 133.85 | -7.1% | +4.5% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 19.43 | -4.9% | -1.3% |
| Currency:Â HK dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Jianshe | 4.77 | +0.4% | -6.3% |