Highlights for this morning: oil falls, Trump Media goes into bitcoin, Pepsi bets on prebiotics

Oil is getting cheaper: fears of a trade conflict between the US and the EU have heightened demand concerns, especially with threats of new duties and increased anti-Russian sanctions. PepsiCo announced the launch of prebiotic cola, betting on the fashion for functional drinks amid declining sales of traditional sodas. Altcoin Solana sharply rose in price after DeFi Development announced the purchase of almost one million of these tokens. About these and other topics - in our review of key events by the morning of July 22.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday on concerns that a looming trade war between the United States and European Union, the fuel's biggest consumers, will curb demand growth, dampening business activity and heightening investor concerns, reports Reuters.

Brent crude futures fell 0.6% to $68.8 per barrel, while North American WTI lost 0.9% to $66.6 per barrel. Both benchmark grades ended trading on Monday with a slight decline.

"General demand fears persist amid escalating global trade tensions, especially in anticipation of new tariff announcements from Trump before the August 1 deadline," said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior analyst at Phillip Nova. According to her, investors are also assessing the possible impact of new US sanctions on Russian oil.

Donald Trump's Trump Media has accumulated roughly $2 billion in bitcoin and related assets, the company announced on July 21. The most popular cryptocurrency now accounts for about two-thirds of Trump Media's total liquid assets, according to a press release. The extremely lucrative pivot to cryptocurrencies continues to boost the U.S. president's fortune, reports CNBC. Trump's stake in the company is valued at nearly $2.3 billion.

"These assets provide our company with financial independence, protect us from discrimination by banks and will allow us to create synergies with the utility token we are preparing to launch in Truth Social," said CEO Devin Nunez. 

Trump Media shares jumped 9% at the opening bell on July 21, but squandered most of the gains by the close, remaining up 3%. 

The price of cryptocurrency Solana, the sixth most capitalized cryptocurrency in the world, surged after a Florida-based real estate market data company announced it had purchased nearly one million tokens, reports Yahoo Finance.

DeFi Development Corporation said it now owns 999,999,999 SOL tokens. From July 14 to July 20, it bought 141,383 coins worth about $19 million at an average price of $133.53. Shares of the company itself, meanwhile, fell more than 3% in trading on Monday. Since the beginning of the year, they have risen 3,291%, or nearly 34 times their value.

This is further evidence of a growing trend: businesses are actively incorporating digital assets into their balance sheets. DeFi Development is one of over 150 public companies that have shifted to a "cryptocurrency treasury" strategy, the essence of which is to focus all efforts on raising capital (through debt and equity issuance) in order to buy as much cryptocurrency as possible.

PepsiCo has announced the launch of a prebiotic cola under its own Pepsi brand - sales will begin in the fall, writes CNBC. Pepsi's Prebiotic Cola drink comes just four months after the company completed its $1.95 billion acquisition of startup Poppi. The deal closed in May.

Over the past two decades, consumption of regular sodas in the U.S. has declined significantly, but prebiotic beverages such as Poppi and its competitor Olipop have become popular among health-conscious consumers due to their claimed digestive benefits. 

Prior to buying Poppi, Pepsi had planned to launch its own functional beverage under the Soulboost brand, but canceled that project.

Faced with declining demand for beverages in the U.S., the company is betting on healthy eating trends - including the popularity of protein and fiber. In the second quarter, the volume of PepsiCo beverage sales in North America decreased by 2%. At the same time, the most successful position remained classic Pepsi - thanks to the growing popularity of Pepsi Zero Sugar.

Key stock indices of the Asia-Pacific region started trading on Tuesday with an increase.

- Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.91%, while the broader Topix added 0.83%. The country's market opened after a holiday when stock exchanges were not operating and an election in which the ruling party lost its majority in the upper house. Reuters explained the calm reaction by saying the ruling coalition's defeat had already been factored into the share price.

- South Korea's Kospi index was up 0.1 percent and the Kosdaq small-company index added 0.7 percent.

- In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.54%.

- Chinese and Hong Kong stocks also started the day with gains, with the Hang Seng Index adding 0.28% and the mainland's CSI 300 rising 0.13%.

- S&P 500 futures are up 0.06%, the Nasdaq 100 is up 0.03%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are unchanged.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor