The daily business briefing: June 20, 2018

1. Walgreens replaces GE in Dow index

Industrial giant GE was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Tuesday and replaced with drug-store chain Walgreens. GE was one of the 30 original stocks in the index in 1896, and it had been on the list continuously since 1907. The company's stock has struggled over the past year. GE's leaders are implementing a turnaround plan, and the company said getting booted from the Dow "does nothing to change those commitments or our focus in creating a stronger, simpler GE." David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said replacing GE with Walgreens boosts the index's coverage of the consumer and health-care sectors, making it "a better measure of the economy and the stock market."

CNBC

2. Canada legalizes recreational marijuana

Canada's Senate passed a bill legalizing recreational marijuana use on Tuesday. The 52-29 vote made Canada the second country in the world to approve the creation of a legal marijuana market. Uruguay legalized the production, sale, and use of marijuana in 2013. Canada's House of Commons approved the measure in November, making the Senate vote the bill's final hurdle. The Cannabis Act stemmed from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's campaign promise to keep marijuana away from children. After the Senate vote, Trudeau tweeted that the law would allow the government to regulate marijuana and keep it away from kids. "It's been too easy for our kids to get marijuana - and for criminals to reap the profits. Today, we change that," Trudeau tweeted.

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CNN

3. U.S. stock futures rise as trade-war fears ease

U.S. stock futures rose early Wednesday as concerns of an intensifying trade war with China eased. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5 percent, while those of the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100 rose by 0.3 percent. All three of the main U.S. indexes dropped on Tuesday after President Trump threatened to impose tariffs on another $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, and Beijing threatened to retaliate. The Dow fell by 1.2 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.3 percent. Tuesday's losses returned the Dow to negative territory for the year.

MarketWatch Reuters

4. Hyundai and Audi team up to develop fuel cell technology

Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday that it had signed an agreement to team up with Audi to jointly develop technology to power vehicles with fuel cells. The technology has fallen behind other systems as the cost of lithium-ion batteries for electric cars has gone down, and more charging stations for these vehicles have become available. Advocates say fuel cells offer longer range for drivers, and quicker fill-ups. Hyundai started to mass produce fuel cells in 2013 but the technology has been slow to catch on, largely due to a shortage of refueling stations. South Korea plans to add more of the stations as part of an effort to reduce carbon emissions.

The Associated Press

5. Modern Family showrunner leaves Fox Studio over Fox News immigration coverage

Modern Family co-creator Steve Levitan announced via Twitter on Tuesday that he was leaving Fox Studio in response to Fox News' coverage of the Trump administration's policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border. Levitan expressed his anger with Fox News after Laura Ingraham, a conservative host, called child detention centers "essentially summer camps." "Let me officially join Seth MacFarlane in saying I'm disgusted to work at a company that has anything whatsoever to do with Fox News," tweeted Levitan. "This bulls--t is the opposite of what #ModernFamily stands for." He later said the channel's "23-hour-a-day support of the NRA, conspiracy theories, and Trump's lies gets harder to swallow every day as I drive onto that lot to make a show about inclusion."

Los Angeles Times CNN