A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 18 August 2023. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — BORROWING COSTS STAY HIGH
American investors have finally accepted that the buoyant US economy means Federal Reserve central bankers are now intent on keeping interest rates higher for longer, rather than risk re-igniting inflation. Equities markets will therefore continue to retreat. And, indeed, Wall Street stocks are at their lowest level since March.
In the past week, New York market indices reflected such uninterrupted gloom, falling without exception. The blue-chip S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average respectively closed 2.1% and 2.2% down. S&P’s MidCap 400 was 3.1% in arrears and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite sank by 2.6%.
Decline has been partly led by the “magnificent seven” US megacap tech stocks — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — which together have lost nearly a trillion bucks in market capitalisation over just the past three weeks. This losing streak has also extended to the powersport stocks we list, all of which have now turned negative. Harley-Davidson has dumped a tenth of its value in a month. ATV and motorcycle giant Polaris has taken harsher punishment.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 33.62 | -1.9% | -9.8% |
| Polaris Industries | 114.59 | -7.8% | -14.7% |
| Textron | 75.25 | -3.8% | +11.3% |
| Ideanomics (Energica) | 0.048 | -4% | -43.5% |
| Niu Technologies | 3.01 | -18% | -19.3% |
| LiveWire | 9.98 | -16.8% | -0.7% |
EUROPE — THE WRONG SORT OF INVESTMENT
Rising sovereign bond yields, in response to hawkish central banker stances, made equities less attractive on both sides of the Atlantic. European market indices illustrated the resultant lack of stock trader enthusiasm. In Germany, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax dropped by 1.6%. The Wiener Börse ATX in adjacent Austria finished 0.9% lower and the Borsa Italiana FTSE MIB in Milan was 1.8% down.
In Teutonic climes, BMW, Volkswagen and KTM parent Pierer were all losers, the two German automotive giants with motorcycling sidelines suffering negativity for a third consecutive week. Only Piaggio bucked the trend.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 98.25 | -1.7% | -8.7% |
| Volkswagen | 133.90 | -2.3% | -10.6% |
| Pierer Mobility | 75.60 | -3.6% | -4.1% |
| Piaggio Group | 3.41 | +1.8% | -2.6% |
JAPAN — SHOCKING NEWS
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock index turned sharply negative with a 3.3% weekly plunge. Investors were reacting to statistical evidence revealing Japanese exports had shrunk significantly in July. In the world’s third largest economy, such data is the stuff of which panic attacks are made. Among indigenous motorcycle manufacturers, the two biggest saw their share prices most seriously savaged.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 4419 | -5.4% | +0.9% |
| Yamaha | 3710 | -5.3% | -9% |
| Suzuki | 5170 | -2.3% | -4.7% |
| Kawasaki | 3535 | -0.5% | -1.9% |
INDIA — STRESSED NERVES
Mumbai’s BSE Sensex 30 market index declined for a fourth consecutive week, losing 0.6%. Political uncertainties were to the fore, as opposition parties set aside their differences and formed an alliance to challenge the hegemony of prime minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in a rapidly approaching General Election.
Shares in leading Indian motorcycle manufacturers struggled for traction as most have admitted stumbling sales, after imposing repeated price rises in the face of inflationary input cost increases.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 2927.05 | -2.4% | -5.6% |
| Bajaj Auto | 4615.55 | +0.4% | -5.1% |
| TVS Motor | 1341.40 | -0.6% | -0.1% |
| Eicher Motors | 3349.60 | -1.2% | +1% |
| Mahindra | 1552.65 | +0.4% | +1.9% |
CHINA — WOES GROW
Heightened anxiety over China’s abject lack of economic recovery spread, after a string of data releases not only underlined the raw fact that it had slid into a deflationary spiral, but also exposed stuttering consumer and business activity.
Market indices took yet another beating. Shanghai’s all-share SSE Composite closed 1.8% down and the blue-chip CSI 300 covering both Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges fell by 2.6%. Only three of the eleven listed Chinese motorcycle producers finished in positive territory — Zongshen, BMW Motorrad contractor Loncin and Yamaha JV associate Linhai.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 15.63 | -1.8% | -10.2% |
| Zongshen | 6.81 | +0.9% | -1.3% |
| Sundiro | 2.43 | -1.2% | -2.8% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 12.57 | -6.1% | -10.9% |
| Lifan | 3.84 | -3% | +2.4% |
| Loncin | 5.35 | +1.7% | +0.9% |
| Linhai | 9.16 | +2.3% | -0.1% |
| Guangzhou Auto | 10.46 | -5.9% | -2.2% |
| CFMoto | 143.62 | -4.8% | -5.3% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 15.76 | -2.7% | -7.1% |
| Currency: HK dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Jianshe | 4.72 | -0.4% | -1.5% |