The daily business briefing: June 30, 2016

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. 'Three Amigos' summit ends with call for open trade
2. Stocks recover some losses after post-Brexit sell-off
3. Senate passes Puerto Rico debt-relief bill
4. Fed tells Morgan Stanley to resubmit capital plan after stress test
5. United Continental flight attendants' leaders back tentative contract

published 30 June 2016

1. 'Three Amigos' summit ends with call for open trade

President Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto pledged on Wednesday to bolster their countries' economic ties and resist a surge in protectionist sentiment that helped drive the U.K.'s Brexit vote. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has vowed to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to better benefit the U.S., and scrap it if he can't. Obama, Trudeau, and Pena Nieto said as they completed a one-day summit that strengthening ties will create jobs in all three countries.

U.S. stocks climbed for the second straight day on Wednesday, recovering half of their losses in a two-day sell-off that followed the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 285 points, building on its 270-point Tuesday gain for its best two days since last August. The S&P 500 also rose by more than three percent as the Brexit shock eased. Dow futures gained modestly early Thursday. Uncertainty remains, however. Ex-London mayor and leading Brexit advocate Boris Johnson on Thursday ruled out a bid to become prime minister when David Cameron steps down later this year.

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The Senate passed the Puerto Rico debt relief bill 68-30 on Wednesday, sending it to President Obama ahead of a July 1 deadline for the island's next big bond payment. Obama is expected to sign it before the Friday deadline. The legislation would create a board to oversee the island's finances and allow for the restructuring of its $70 billion in debt. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said the bill addresses Puerto Rico's crisis while avoiding a taxpayer bailout. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said the legislation enabled the U.S. territory's unsustainable spending.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it had provisionally approved Morgan Stanley's capital plan, but that the bank must resubmit the plan in December after fixing shortcomings detected in the Fed's annual stress tests. The Fed said Morgan Stanley "exhibited material weaknesses in its capital planning process" and failed to adequately address some possible problems in a downturn. Morgan Stanley was the only big U.S. bank that did not get unqualified approval from the Fed.

Leaders representing 25,000 United Continental flight attendants have reached an agreement on a tentative contract deal that would unite the cabin-crew workers of United and Continental for the first time since their 2010 merger. The Association of Flight Attendants' approval sends the proposed contract to the union's members for a vote later this year. The union said the five-year contract preserves profit-sharing and health care plans, and raises pay rates by up to 31 percent.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.