The daily business briefing: June 19, 2017

1. Brexit negotiations formally begin

Brexit talks formally kicked off in Brussels on Monday nearly a year after Britons voted to pull their country out of the European Union. The negotiations, which are expected to last two years, started with British Prime Minister Theresa May under pressure to soften her position after early elections she called hoping to give her a stronger mandate resulted in the loss of her Conservative Party's majority in Parliament. U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis called the debate over the terms of the country's withdrawal from the European trading bloc, and the new terms of its relationship with the EU, the "most complicated negotiation of all time." "We are starting this negotiation in a positive and constructive tone," Davis said. "There is more that unites us than divides us." EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said the first session would focus on trying to "identify priorities and the timetable" to show "a constructive opening of negotiations."

Bloomberg

2. European stocks lead gains after Macron allies win big majority

European stocks made their biggest surge in two months on Monday, buoyed partly by Sunday's big election win by French President Emmanuel Macron's pro-business party in parliamentary elections. Macron's Republic on the Move party won a solid majority in the National Assembly. Paris stocks gained 1.1 percent after the Sunday vote. "We expect the Macron reforms to transform France like the Thatcher reforms had cured the erstwhile sick man of Europe, the United Kingdom, some 35 years ago," said Berenberg European economist Holger Schmieding. U.S. stocks appeared headed for a higher open, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures up by 0.3 percent over Friday's record close, and hard-hit technology stocks looking to rebound, with Nasdaq 100 futures up by 0.7 percent.

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Reuters MarketWatch

3. Cars 3 leads weekend box office

Cars 3 led the domestic box office in its debut weekend as expected, but its $53.5 million haul was the weakest opening in the series' history. Cars made $60.1 million in its opening weekend, and Cars 2 made $66.1 million. The movie was far behind other Pixar blockbusters — Finding Dory brought in $135.1 million in its first weekend. Still, Cars 3 managed to knock Wonder Woman down to No. 2 in its third weekend. Smaller films, including the Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez on Me and the shark thriller 47 Meters Down also did well.

The Associated Press

4. Google imposes new rules to curb videos promoting terrorism

Google said Sunday that it was imposing a set of policies aiming to curb terrorist clips on the video sharing platform. Videos promoting terrorism will be quickly identified and removed, Google said. Offensive videos that violate the company's community standards that don't meet the standard for removal, such as those promoting the subjugation of religions or races, will come with a warning, and users will not be able to recommend or comment on them. They already can't include advertising. "That means these videos will have less engagement and be harder to find," Kent Walker, Google's general counsel and senior vice president, wrote in a company blog post on Sunday. "We think this strikes the right balance between free expression and access to information without promoting extremely offensive viewpoints."

The New York Times

5. Boeing unveils new passenger jet at Paris Airshow

Boeing unveiled the 737 MAX 10, the newest version of its best-selling 737 aircraft family, at the Paris Airshow on Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in an Airbus A400-M military transport plane to kick off the aviation event, where aircraft makers will show off the latest passenger jets, warplanes, and drones. Passenger-plane manufacturers are bracing for a slowdown after a recent surge in air travel. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said the company believed the MAX 10 would "add more value for customers and more energy to the marketplace."

Reuters The Associated Press