Morning Brief

What to watch today: Stock futures flat after Dow joined records Friday

BY THE NUMBERS

U.S. stock futures were flat to start the holiday-shortened trading week as U.S. oil prices hit six-year highs Tuesday. The Dow, which logged a fourth straight positive session Friday, finished at its first record close since early May. The S&P 500, on a seven-day winning streak, saw a fresh record high close. The Nasdaq also ended Friday with a record close. (CNBC)

* For CNBC Pro subscribers: Today's biggest analyst calls include Tesla, Apple, Nvidia, Coinbase

All three stock benchmarks were higher last week, with help from Friday's better-than-expected June jobs report. U.S. equity trading was closed Monday in observance of the Fourth of July. Bond yields ticked lower Tuesday. Gold prices jumped to a nearly two-week high, back above $1,800 per ounce. (CNBC)

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude Tuesday topped $76.98 per barrel, its highest price since November 2014. International benchmark Brent crude was trading around late 2018 highs above $77. The moves came after talks between OPEC and its oil-producing allies were postponed indefinitely. Prices later in the morning turned negative. (CNBC)

The S&P Oil and Gas ETF gained 1.8% in the premarket, while shares of Occidental Petroleum (OXY) added 1.9%, ConocoPhillips (COP) shares increased 1.7% and APA Corporation's (APA) stock ticked 2.2% higher.

Shares of ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing crashed as much as 25% to under $12 each in premarket trading Tuesday, before paring some of those losses, less than a week after the Chinese app listed as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange. Didi priced its IPO at $14 per share. (CNBC)

* If you’re going to invest in a Chinese stock, here’s what you need to know (CNBC)

The fall comes after China announced late Friday that new users in that country won't be able to download the Didi app while a cybersecurity review of the company is conducted. The Didi action is the latest in a high-profile Chinese crackdown on its tech titans after years of relatively little regulation. (Reuters)

IN THE NEWS TODAY

A ramped-up rescue effort at the collapsed Surfside condo building faced new delays from the weather as Tropical Storm Elsa began hitting Florida. The search crews can work through rain. But lightning from previous thunderstorms have forced them to pause operations. Sunday's demolition allowed rescuers into previously inaccessible places. (AP)

* Oregon governor says death toll from extreme heat at least 95 in the state (AP)

As many as 1,500 businesses around the world have been affected by ransomware attack centered on Florida-based information technology firm Kaseya. Russia-linked gang REvil, which extorted $11 million from meat processor JBS last month, said it would unscramble all affected machines for $70 million in cryptocurrency. (Reuters)

President Joe Biden said Saturday he ordered a "deep dive" by U.S. intelligence into the Kaseya breach, warning the U.S. would respond if it were to determine Kremlin involvement. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was not aware of the attack. (AP)

Jeff Bezos on Monday handed over the Amazon CEO reins to cloud boss Andy Jassy, capping the founder's monumental run leading the tech powerhouse since its inception in 1994. The stock over those 27 years has gained nearly 234,000%. Bezos, 57, remains at the company as executive chairman. (CNBC)

Bezos is preparing to funnel his energy toward other pursuits, including his space company Blue Origin and his planned trip to space later this month. Jassy, 53, inherits a company in Amazon that surpassed $100 billion in quarterly sales for the first time ever in the fourth quarter of 2020. (CNBC)

It won't be a weekend for the record books, but this year's July 4th holiday box office haul is a marked improvement on the 2020 edition. Despite three new nationwide releases, "F9" again triumphed over the competition and notched first place on box office charts. (Variety)

STOCKS TO WATCH

AMC Entertainment (AMC) said Tuesday it's tabled a proposal that would have asked its shareholders to allow the movie theater chain to issue up to 25 million more shares. AMC, which soared this year in a Reddit-fueled rally, jumped another 3% in premarket trading. The stock has gained more than 2,300% so far in 2021.

Chinese regulators launched an investigation into Boss Zhipin (BZ) and subsidiaries of Full Truck Alliance (YMM), which are both listed in the U.S. Shares of Boss Zhipin, listed under the name Kanzhun, fell roughly 10% in early trading. Full Truck Alliance shares plunged about 16% in the premarket. Shares of other Chinese companies traded in the U.S. also dropped, including Baidu (BIDU) and JD.com (JD). (CNBC)

Shares Pfizer (PFE) fell roughly 1% after Israel's health ministry reported a decrease in effectiveness in the U.S. drug maker's Covid vaccine in preventing infection and symptomatic disease. However, Israel said Pfizer's vaccine remained highly effective at preventing serious illness. The announcement comes as the highly infectious delta variant spreads in Israel and around the world. (Reuters)

American Express (AXP) shares gained 2.5% premarket after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to buy from neutral. The firm also set a price target of $225 per share for American Express, more than 33% above where the stock closed on Friday.

3M (MMM) shares fell slightly in early trading after Credit Suisse downgraded the industrial products stock to neutral from outperform, citing challenges with legal issues. "Despite fundamental potential upside from a cyclical upturn in global IP, and potential inventory restocking, we think it will be difficult for 3M to regain its premium multiple at this point in the cycle," a Credit Suisse analyst said.

WATERCOOLER

Subway is hoping that upgrading its ingredients and mobile app will help draw customers back to the sandwich chain. Starting July 13, a day after closing all its U.S. restaurants in preparation, the company will offer nearly a dozen new or improved ingredients, as well as 10 revamped or original sandwiches. (CNBC)