World Street | Maersk takes a long cut; mortgages regain appeal; McDonalds faces pressure

World Street offers a sneak peek into the world of business and economy.

While the labour market in the US shows resilience, China’s property sector continues to grapple with woes. The Houthi militants, on the other hand, kept up their rampage in the Red Sea. As protestors boycott McDonalds, several Middle Eastern markets have been affected. All these and more on the January 5 edition of World Street.

Hiring in the US private sector looked up faster than expected in December, closing out a strong 2023 for the resilient jobs market. Private payrolls increased by 164,000 for the month, a substantial increase from the downwardly revised 101,000 in November and better than the 130,000 estimate from a Dow Jones consensus.

China is facing the prospect of a long-drawn correction in its property sector, with an overhang in housing inventory likely to take more than 10 years to clear, according to Hao Hong, chief economist and partner at GROW Investment Group.

“If you look at the inventory overhang situation — at this sales rate — it will take about two years to clear all the inventory that is outstanding in the market,” Hong told CNBC Street Signs Asia on Thursday.

Ford Motor’s US sales increased about 7 percent last year, marking the automaker’s best sales since 2019 but lower than the overall industry’s growth. Ford reported sales of nearly 2 million vehicles in 2023, a 7.1 percent increase from the previous year. The company finished third in overall US sales behind Toyota Motor and General Motors.

UK mortgage rates are falling as markets anticipate the Bank of England will start cutting interest rates toward the middle of the year, even as uncertainty is likely to continue to dent buyer confidence, reports CNBC.

HSBC announced cuts beginning Thursday on its residential mortgage interest rates, with several falling below 5 percent for the first time since April 2023. The largest drop was to its 10-year fixed rate remortgage deals, one of which is down from 4.99 percent to 3.99 percent.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly announced on Thursday a new website that will allow patients to get a weight loss drug prescription through a telehealth provider.

The new website, called LillyDirect, joins a growing list of platforms in the US like Weight Watchers and Ro offering weight loss drugs through telehealth, but is the first of its kind from a pharmaceutical company.

Denmark’s Maersk decided to reroute four out of five ships that were stuck in the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal and around Africa, instead of resuming the journey in the Red Sea. The Houthi militants attacked a series of ships in the southern area of the sea, causing a disruption in the global supply chain, per Reuters.

McDonalds outlets in several Middle Eastern countries are facing a "meaningful business impact" from the ongoing boycott of the fast food chain, noted the CEO. Protestors have stopped patronizing the restaurant, along with other major western fast-food chains in a protest against their alleged support for Israel.

One of the world's biggest supermarket chains, Carrefour, announced that it would stop stocking Pepsi, Lay's, Doritos, and Litpon tea among other PepsiCo products as prices are raised. Stores across major European countries like France, Italy and Spain will see an impact. The company reiterated that it is committed to lowering prices, as Europeans battle with surging prices of food.