A snapshot of motorcycle and ATV industry share performance across key manufacturers and major global markets at the trading week closure on Friday 12 July 2024. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
USA — METAL BASHERS CELEBRATE
American consumer price inflation fell much faster than forecast in June, to just 3%, weakening the more glamorous indices. Many technology stocks retreated from record highs and the NASDAQ Composite hung onto only marginal 0.2% positivity. Blue-chip S&P 500 shares also lost some of their attraction on a 0.9% weekly gain.
Instead, traders rotated investment in to smaller US companies in the manufacturing sector, likely to be the first beneficiaries of lower interest rates. So the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.6% and S&P’s MidCap 400 surged upwards to close a muscular 4.3% higher.
Big-brand powersports players in the MidCap league wallowed in suddenly large share price hikes. Harley-Davidson and its LiveWire electric bike spin-off were to the fore, along with Indian Motorcycle purveyor and dominant US off-road vehicle maker Polaris Industries.
| Currency: dollar | Price | Week | Month |
| Harley-Davidson | 34.11 | +7% | -0.7% |
| Polaris Industries | 82.12 | +10.6% | +5.6% |
| Textron | 88.53 | +4.2% | +3.4% |
| Ideanomics (Energica) | 0.88 | -5.4% | -5.4% |
| Niu Technologies | 2.24 | +17.3% | +16.7% |
| LiveWire | 7.76 | +7.5% | +13.9% |
EUROPE — BRIGHTER PROSPECTS
Rising share prices for European consumer cyclical companies boosted eurozone confidence too, reflected in key indices. The region-wide Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.9%, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax rose by 1.5% and the FTSE MIB in Milan had put on 1.7% by Friday’s finish. Motorcycle-related German automotives BMW and Volkswagen went along for the ride, and KTM parent Pierer Mobility staged an impressive recovery on the otherwise-flaccid Wiener Börse in Austria. Mysteriously, the Italian Piaggio Group sank in value. That may be related to imminent disappointing half-year results.
| Currency: euro | Price | Week | Month |
| BMW | 92.18 | +5.1% | +1.1% |
| Volkswagen | 115.50 | +2.8% | -7.4% |
| Pierer Mobility | 31.50 | +8.6% | -13% |
| Piaggio Group | 2.70 | -5.6% | -5.3% |
JAPAN — CENTRAL BANK ROULETTE
Tokyo and Osaka’s key Nikkei 225 stock index abruptly dropped to only a limited 0.7% weekly improvement, shedding most of the previous week’s 3.4% advance, after the Bank of Japan released unexpectedly rising inflation data. Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki were on the receiving end of share price declines. It was Suzuki’s turn to buck this negative trend.
| Currency: yen | Price | Week | Month |
| Honda | 1703.5 | -1.7% | +2.2% |
| Yamaha | 1560.5 | -1,6% | +4.1% |
| Suzuki | 1880.5 | +4.6% | +1.2% |
| Kawasaki | 5723 | -6.5% | +3% |
INDIA — AUSPICIOUS OCCASION
Mumbai market indices struggled for traction, with both S&P’s BSE Sensex 30 and the NSE Nifty 50 rising in unison by a puny 0.7%. Most of India’s poverty-stricken population were enthralled by the extravagant televised wedding of Anant Ambani, son of Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani (net worth 89 billion quid), to his live-in girlfriend Radhika Merchant, who also happens to be the daughter of another Indian billionaire. For some inexplicable reason, Boris Johnson was a wedding guest.
Despite this distraction, or perhaps because of it, the share prices of India’s two biggest motorcycle manufacturers — Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto — fell.
| Currency: rupee | Price | Week | Month |
| Hero MotoCorp | 5546.90 | -0.2% | -0.6% |
| Bajaj Auto | 9430.75 | -2.1% | -3% |
| TVS Motor | 2439.45 | +0.4% | +1.3% |
| Eicher Motors | 4860.70 | +2.6% | +2.1% |
| Mahindra | 2703.95 | -6.1% | -5.4% |
CHINA — SOME GOOD NEWS!
China’s exports grew at the fastest pace for more than a year in June. According to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, exports jumped by 8.6% year-on-year in dollar terms, accelerating from 7.6% in May and marking the strongest expansion since March 2023.
Market indices reflected this news in the past week, with Shanghai’s all-share SSE Composite growing by 0.8% and the blue-chip CSI 300 1.2% up. Share prices for nine out of the ten listed Chinese motorcycle manufacturers added value. The solitary spoilsport was Honda JV affiliate Sundiro.
| Currency: yuan | Price | Week | Month |
| Qianjiang | 15.79 | +4.1% | -8% |
| Zongshen | 10.54 | +8% | -21.6% |
| Sundiro | 2.85 | -2.7% | -0.7% |
| CETC (Jialing) | 10.39 | +0.7% | -6.6% |
| Lifan | 4.19 | +26.2% | +47% |
| Loncin | 6.56 | +1.9% | -7.5% |
| Linhai | 6.85 | +3% | -3.2% |
| Guangzhou Auto | 7.84 | +4.7% | -9.6% |
| CFMoto | 148.06 | +5.6% | +2.1% |
| Xinri E-Vehicle | 9.65 | +3.5% | -7.9% |