Main by morning: Coinbase falls, Mitsubishi goes into shale, US mortgages get cheaper

Coinbase shares collapsed after the company refused to support a key crypto-regulatory bill, forcing the U.S. Senate to postpone its consideration. Mitsubishi announced the purchase of shale gas assets in the U.S. for $7.5 billion, betting on growing demand from data centers, industrial and LNG. On these and other topics - in our review of key events for the morning of January 16.

Shares of Coinbase Global on Thursday, January 15, became one of the worst performers in the S&P 500 index - the securities fell 6.5% after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly stated that the company does not support the bill to regulate the crypto market, which increased investor doubts about the future of the industry and the issuer itself, reports Barron's.

Against this background, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee postponed discussion of the so-called Clarity Act - an initiative designed to determine the status of cryptoassets and delineate the powers of regulators, specifies Reuters. According to Armstrong, the document, if passed, could weaken the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and limit revenue payments on stablecoins. His position has sharpened divisions among Republicans and questioned the chances of the bill to gain the necessary support of Democrats, although the authors of the initiative claim that negotiations are ongoing.

Mitsubishi Corporation announced the purchase of shale gas assets in the United States for $7.53 billion including debt, strengthening its presence in the world's largest gas market, CNBC reports. The assets will be acquired from Aethon Energy Management in Texas and Louisiana: the deal includes $5.2 billion in equity purchases and $2.33 billion in debt. Mitsubishi's shares fell about 2% after the deal was announced.

The company expects to benefit from growing power demand from data centers, industry and LNG exports. Mitsubishi said the deal will strengthen the revenue base of its gas and LNG business and accelerate the creation of an integrated chain in the U.S., from gas production to power generation, data center development and chemical production. The valuation of Aethon's assets assumes a near doubling of Mitsubishi's total LNG production volumes, which now stand at about 15 million tons a year.

The U.S. is getting about 30 percent higher price for Venezuelan oil than the country's previous authorities, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, CNBC reported. Washington has already made its first oil sale worth about $500 million and plans to continue exports "indefinitely." According to US President Donald Trump, Venezuela will hand over 30 to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the US, which will be sold at market prices and the proceeds will be under US control.

The U.S. also announced plans to attract at least $100 billion in investments to rebuild Venezuela's oil sector, which has suffered from years of underinvestment: production has fallen to about 800,000 barrels per day from a peak of 3.5 million in the 1990s. At the same time, industry representatives emphasize that the key risk remains political: without confidence in the country's long-term stability, investors will act cautiously, despite the world's largest proven oil reserves.

U.S. mortgage rates fell to their lowest levels in more than three years after Donald Trump announced the purchase of $200 billion worth of mortgage bonds by mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Yahoo FInance reports. The average rate on 30-year mortgages fell to 6.06% from 6.16% a week earlier, the lowest since September 2022. The rate on 15-year loans also fell, to 5.38% from 5.46%.

Trump's announcement sharply increased demand for mortgage-backed securities: their prices rose and yields fell, which directly pulled down loan rates. The market's reaction was immediate - applications for home purchases rose 16% in a week, and refinancing applications rose 40%. The Mortgage Bankers Association expect increased activity from both borrowers looking to reduce payments and buyers who had previously delayed entering the market.

- Japan's broad Topix index was falling 0.14 percent, while the Nikkei 225 was down 0.14 percent in Jan. 16 trading.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was falling by 0.59%. CSI 300 index of mainland China - by 0.66%.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.44% and the Kosdaq added 0.13%.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.48%.

- S&P 500 futures were up 0.28%, Nasdaq Composite futures were up 0.39% and Dow Jones Industrial Average exchange-traded contracts were up 0.18%.

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