A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 11 October 2024. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — MONEY MOOD MUSIC
Wall Street got a lift as US investment banks delivered a strong start to the Q3 earnings season. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo kicked off the action by comfortably beating analysts’ profit expectations. Latest American inflation data also showed a fall in September, boosting investor confidence that the US Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates further in November. Overall, there’s now a growing conviction that the US economy will pull off a “soft landing” — with growth and the labour market both holding up and price pressures progressively easing.
Market indices generally reflected this spirit of relaxation. The blue-chip S&P 500, S&P’s MidCap 400 and NASDAQ’s Composite finished the week with identical 1.1% gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average did slightly better, ending 1.2% up.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 34.78 | N/A | -7.8% |
| Polaris Industries | 80.94 | -1.6% | -0.8% |
| Textron | 87.96 | +1.4% | +0.3% |
| Ideanomics (Energica) | 0.20 | +57.1% | N/A |
| Niu Technologies | 2.65 | -5.4% | +48% |
| LiveWire | 6.20 | +5.6% | -8.3% |
EUROPE — DON’T TRUST THE CHINESE
European stocks with exposure to China — most significantly including leading eurozone automotives — were hit after Beijing authorities failed to supply convincing details of their recent promised economic stimulus package. This gloom pervaded all associated biker listings. However, market indices tended to take cues from the aforementioned upbeat US messages. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax and the FTSE MIB in Milan closed on respective 1.3% and 2.1% rises. The Wiener Börse in Austria joined by the skin of its teeth, just 0.2% up.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 75.78 | -2.5% | +3.4% |
| Volkswagen | 96.75 | -2.1% | -2% |
| Pierer Mobility | 23.70 | -1.2% | -12.9% |
| Piaggio Group | 2.53 | -0.4% | -4.9% |
JAPAN — SINS FORGIVEN
Rookie Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba’s meddling with currency intervention was mercifully brushed aside, as corporate Japan began to prepare for its quarterly results reporting frenzy. Tokyo and Osaka’s Nikkei 225 stock index rose by 2.5%, shrugging off the previous week’s knee-jerk loss. Among indigenous motorcycling majors, Kawasaki topped investor betting averages.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1558 | -0.7% | +5.8% |
| Yamaha | 1340 | +0.5% | +7.3% |
| Suzuki | 1592.5 | +1.4% | +4.3% |
| Kawasaki | 6502 | +4.4% | +32.2% |
INDIA — ON THE BACK FOOT
Indian investor disquiet continued and Mumbai’s two key market indices — S&P’s BSE Sensex 30 and the NSE Nifty 50 — remained lurking in negative territory for a second week, albeit by the smaller respective margins of 0.4% and 0.2%. Motorcycle manufacturer stocks were fairly unpopular, though, with only TVS Motor and Mahindra attracting much attention.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 5476.30 | -0.8% | -5.5% |
| Bajaj Auto | 11878.30 | +0.9% | +1.2% |
| TVS Motor | 2794.35 | +4% | -1.2% |
| Eicher Motors | 4728.05 | +0.5% | -2.7% |
| Mahindra | 3134.35 | +3.9% | +14.4% |
CHINA — AND THEN THE BUBBLE BURSTS
China’s spectacular equities rally ended in tears, after a midweek meeting of senior government policymakers refused to provide details of spending plans to revive the Chinese economy. The inevitable consequence was tumbling share prices, in a sell-off rout that is bound to accelerate. Shanghai’s SSE Composite and the Shanghai/Shenzhen CSI 300 indices closed on respective 3.6% and 3.3% losses.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 17.90 | -6.8% | +9.2% |
| Zongshen | 13.83 | -6.2% | +21.5% |
| Sundiro | 3.54 | -4.6% | +11.7% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 12.69 | -3.6% | +25.1% |
| Lifan | 4.81 | +2.8% | +21.5% |
| Loncin | 7.59 | -4% | +10.3% |
| Linhai | 9.03 | +2.4% | +21.2% |
| Guangzhou Auto Group | 8.21 | -7% | +14.8% |
| CFMoto | 157.75 | -3.7% | +9.6% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 10.70 | -7.7% | +10.4% |