Sensex, Nifty Pause After Record Close; Pharma Index At 3-Month High

Indian equity benchmarks paused after closing at record highs in the previous session as mild selling pressure in ITC, State Bank of India and Reliance Industries weighed on gains in the pharma shares.

The S&P BSE Sensex was little changed at 33,573 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index fell 0.16 percent to 10,424.

Ten out of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended lower led by the S&P BSE Fast Moving Consumer Goods Index's 0.9 percent drop. On the flipside, the S&P BSE Healthcare Index was the top sectoral gainer, up 2.5 percent.

Shares of the Hyderabad-based drugmaker rose as much as 4 percent, the most since October 5, to Rs 1,010 after it met Bloomberg consensus estimates in September quarter.

• Consolidated net profit up 27.5 percent at Rs 84.4 crore versus estimate of Rs 84 crore
• Revenue at Rs 427 crore versus estimate of Rs 429 crore
• Ebitda or operating profit up 16.3 percent at Rs 121.9 crore

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.’s quarterly profit beat estimates, driven by new launches and higher volumes.

• Net profit rose 13.8 percent to Rs 362 crore versus estimate of Rs 351 crore
• Revenue rose 6.2 percent to Rs 2,506 crore versus estimate of Rs 2,527 crore
• Ebitda or operating profit rose 14 percent to Rs 532 crore
• Ebitda margin at 21.2 percent versus 19.7 percent (YoY)

Speaking to BloombergQuint Vivek Gambhir, managing director at Godrej Consumer Products said business has shown lot of resilience and the company is yet to see good pick in rural demand. He expects second half of the current financial year to be stronger.

• Ruchi Soya has 10 lakh shares change hands in a block.

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

Hexaware: The Mumbai-based IT company rose as much as 14.58 percent, the most in over six years, to Rs 322 after it reported strong earnings.

• Nnet profit rose 16 percent to Rs 142 crore versus estimate of Rs 121 crore (QoQ)
• Revenue at Rs 993 crore
• Revenue in dollar term at $154 million
• Ebita rose 8 percent to Rs 157 crore (QoQ)
• Margin expanded 15.8 percent from 14.7 percent (QoQ)

Rain Industries: Shares of the Hyderabad-based cement and other related products maker rose as much as 10 percent to record high of Rs 287 after brokerage firm Motilal Oswal initiated coverage on the stock with a buy.

Motilal Oswal on Rain Industries

• Initiated ‘Buy’ rating with a price target of Rs 362; implying a potential upside of 33 percent from Wednesday’s close.
• Dual benefit of demand growth and supply shock driving CPC prices.
• Rain investing in high organic growth projects.
• Strong free cash flow generation to help deleverage its balance sheet.
• Expect Volume, Ebitda and net profit to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4 percent, 24 percent and 50 percent over four year till December 2009.
• Rain has re-rated on visibility of margin expansion and growth.
• Although stock has run up sharply, the valuations are still reasonable.
• Bull Case target of Rs 615.

Dredging Corp: The stock rose as much as 17 percent, extending gains to second day after the cabinet approved stake sale of 73.47 percent in the company.

Solar Industries: The stock rose 6.51 percent after it bagged order worth Rs 1143 crore from Coal India for the supply of bulk explosives.

Shares of the Mumbai-based edible oil maker rose as much as 18 percent to Rs 33.75 after it signed an agreement with Devonshire Capital to sell 51 percent stake in the company for Rs 4,000 crore.

Shriram Transport Finance Company posted a slightly better-than-anticipated quarterly profit backed by an improvement in asset quality.

• Net profit grew 23.6 percent to Rs 479 crore versus estimate of Rs 454 crore
• Total bad loans fell 4 basis points to 8.06 percent
• Net non-performing assets dropped 2.45 percent
• Provision coverage ratio expanded 84 basis points during the quarter to 71.33 percent (YoY)

Speaking to BloombergQuint, Umesh Revankar, managing director and CEO of the company said there is scope of borrowing cost coming down, but it may not translate in higher margins as demand is coming from high ticket size new vehicles and for that customer will expect lower interest rate.

Shares of the Mumbai-based energy focused company fell as much as 7 percent, the most in over two months, to Rs 44.10. The company said monetisation of coal business is its stated strategy.

BloombergQuint had reported yesterday that company was in final stages of talks to sell its entire interest in Indonesian coal mines as it looks to reduce debt, two people aware of the negotiations.

The stock in yesterday’s session ended 3.7 percent higher at Rs 47.40.

Shares of the Chennai-based cement maker came off day's low after it beat Bloomberg consensus estimates in September quarter.

• Net profit fell 19 percent to Rs 168.5 crore versus estimate of Rs 134 crore
• Revenue declined 8 percent to Rs 1,029.3 crore versus estimate of Rs 975 crore

Shares of the Ahmedabad-based sanitary ware maker rose as much as 2.4 percent to Rs 3,292 after it beat Bloomberg consensus estimates in July-September quarter.

• Net profit rises 3.6 percent to Rs 27.27 crore versus estimate of Rs 26.33 crore
• Revenue rises 13 percent to Rs 296 crore versus estimate of Rs 270 crore
• Total costs at Rs 256 crore
• Other income at Rs 21.9 crore

Shares of the Ahmedabad-based drugmaker rose as much as 3.7 percent to Rs 515 after Zydus Pharma USA's subsidiary Nesher Pharma got U.S. drug regulator's nod for Dextoamphetamine Sulfate and Amphetamine Sulfate tablets, Cadila Healthcare said in a stock exchange filing.

The drug is used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and as per the IMS data it has sales of $416.5 million.

• Indian equity benchmarks edged lower owing to weakness in heavyweights like ITC, Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever.
• The S&P BSE Sensex declined 0.1 percent to 33,563 and NSE Nifty 50 Index declined 0.2 percent to 10,422.
• S&P BSE MidCap Index was outperforming Sensex as it rose 0.4 percent.
• Twelve out of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading lower led by the S&P BSE FMCG Index's 0.8 percent drop. On the flipside, S&P BSE Healthcare Index was the top sectoral gain, up 2 percent.

The Bangalore-based defence equipment maker reported 19 percent jump in July-September net profit.

• Net profit came in at Rs 412.39 crore versus Rs 346.25 crore (YoY)
• Revenue rose 46 percent to Rs 2,431.73 crore versus Rs 1,664.38 crore (YoY)

Speaking to BloombergQuint M V Gowtama, chairman and managing director of the company said that he expects 15 percent revenue growth for the full financial year and during the quarter company upgraded L70 guns for the Indian army.

Shares of the Hyderabad-based cement and other related products maker rose as much as 10 percent to record high of Rs 287 after brokerage firm Motilal Oswal initiated coverage on the stock with a buy.

Motilal Oswal on Rain Industries

• Initiated ‘Buy’ rating with a price target of Rs 362; implying a potential upside of 33 percent from Wednesday’s close.
• Dual benefit of demand growth and supply shock driving CPC prices.
• Rain investing in high organic growth projects.
• Strong free cash flow generation to help deleverage its balance sheet.
• Expect Volume, Ebitda and net profit to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4 percent, 24 percent and 50 percent over four year till December 2009.
• Rain has re-rated on visibility of margin expansion and growth.
• Although stock has run up sharply, the valuations are still reasonable.
• Bull Case target of Rs 615.

Shares of drugmakers came in high demand after the U.S. drug regulator lifted import ban on Divi's Labs. The S&P BSE Healthcare Index rose as much as 3 percent, the most in 21 months, to 14,689.

Shares of the Mumbai-based IT firm rose as much as 8.8 percent, the most in over 21 months, to Rs 305.90, also its highest level in over two years after reported better-than-expected profit in September quarter.

• Net profit rose 16 percent to Rs 142 crore versus estimate of Rs 121 crore (QoQ)
• Revenue at Rs 993 crore
• Revenue in dollar term at $154 million
• Ebita rose 8 percent to Rs 157 crore (QoQ)
• Margin expanded 15.8 percent from 14.7 percent (QoQ)

Shares of the Delhi-based two-wheeler maker declined as much as 2 percent, the most since September 27, to Rs 3,745 after it missed consensus Bloomberg estimates in September quarter.

• Net profit rose 0.6 percent to Rs 1,010 crore versus estimate of Rs 1,035 crore (YoY)
• Revenue rose 7.3 percent to Rs 8,362 crore versus estimate of Rs 8,815 crore (YoY)
• Operating profit or Ebitda rose 6 percent to Rs 1,456 crore
• Operating profit margin or Ebitda margin narrowed 20 basis points 17.4 percent

Shares of the Hyderabad-based drugmaker rose as much as 21 percent, the most since listing, to Rs 1,071.85, also its highest level in nearly one year, after the U.S. drug regulator lifted ban on its factory in Visakhapatnam.

U.S. FDA informed the drugmaker that it will be lifting the "Import Alert 66-40" and moving to close out the warning letter issued to the company's Unit-II at Visakhapatnam, Divi’s said in a stock exchange filing.

What It Means For Divi’s Labs

• Divi’s can now supply all drugs to U.S. markets
• Larger products were exempted from the import alert given the drug supply situation
• U.S. currently contributed 33 percent of total sales; Unit 2 is 20 percent of U.S. sales
• Eliminates the downside risks on the earning

Indian equity benchmarks took a breather after two days of record breaking run as heavyweights like Tata Motors, State Bank of India and Axis Bank edged lower.

The S&P BSE Sensex was little changed at 33,603 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index was also little changed at 10,434.

Twelve out of 19 sector gauges were trading higher led by the S&P BSE Healthcare Index's 1.8 percent gain. On the other hand, the S&P BSE Metal Index was the top sectoral loser, down 0.6 percent.

• Rupee opens higher at 64.53 per U.S. dollar against yesterday's close of 64.60

The U.S. Fed as expected kept interest rates unchanged but reinforced expectations for an increase in December. The odds of a December hike are close to 90 percent.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump is said to name Jerome Powell as the next Fed chairman to succeed Janet Yellen. Amid all this, rupee has continued to strengthen in the last sessions. With the dollar index down today, we may see the local unit opening higher and trading with a lot of gusto against the greenback. A range of 64.45-64.60 a dollar is expected.

Sovereign bonds meanwhile continue to trade weak. The yield on the 10-year note is now at 6.89 percent. Along with a hawkish central bank view on inflation, higher crude oil prices have further clouded the outlook for interest rate cut. Yield is likely to stay in a range of 6.85-6.95 percent in the session.

• The NSE Nifty 50 Index has been forming higher top higher bottom formation on charts and it can head towards 10,550 while on the downside support is around 10,380 levels.
• Nifty Bank Index broke above its crucial level of 25,198 which indicates that next leg of rally can start which can take it towards 26,000 levels on the downside support is around 25,250-25,300 levels.

• Nifty November futures closed at 10,477, premium of 36.8 points versus 33.5 points
• November contracts: Nifty open interest up 2 percent; Bank Nifty open interest up 21 percent
• India VIX closed 2.4 percent lower at 12.13
• Max open interest for November series shifts at 10,500 Call (open interest at 34.2 lakh, up 12 percent)
• Max open interest for November series at 10,000 Put (open interest at 52.5 lakh, up 4 percent)

For a preview of other corporate earnings, click here

• Vedanta
• Power Grid Corporation
• Berger Paints
• Cera Sanitaryware
• Edelweiss
• Ge T&D India
• Glenmark Pharmaceuticals
• HCC
• ICRA
• Natco Pharma
• Shriram City Union Finance
• Ujjivan Financial Services
• Accelya Kale Solutions
• Akzo Nobel India
• Andhra Bank
• Bharat Road Network
• Borosil Glass Works
• CCL Products
• Deepak Fertilizers
• Orient Cement
• Sundram Fasteners
• Ramco Cements
• Transport Corporation Of India

Hero MotoCorp (Q2FY18, YoY)

• Revenue up 7 percent at Rs 8362 crore
• Profit up 0.6 percent at Rs 1010.5 crore
• EBITDA up 6 percent at Rs 1456 crore
• Margin at 17.4 percent versus 17.6 percent

Hexaware (Q3CY17, QoQ)

• Revenue up 0.9 percent at Rs 993 crore
• Profit up 16.4 percent at Rs 142 crore
• EBIT up 8 percent at Rs 157 crore
• Margin at 15.8 percent versus 14.74 percent

Apollo Tyres (Q2FY18, YoY)

• Revenue up 12.70 percent at Rs 3477 crore
• Profit down 46 percent at Rs 140 crore
• EBITDA up down 17 percent at Rs 364.5 crore
• Margin at 10.5 percent versus 14 percent

Max India (Q2FY18, YoY)

• Revenue down 5 percent at Rs 16.84 crore
• Profit up 6 percent at Rs 2.12 crore versus Rs 2 crore
• Music Broadcast (Q2FY18, YoY)
• Revenue up 10 percent at Rs 76 crore
• Profit down 7 percent at Rs 13 crore
• EBITDA down 12 percent at Rs 25 crore
• Margin at 33 percent versus 41 percent

TCI Express (Q2FY18, YoY)

• Revenue up 10.3 percent at Rs 204 crore
• Profit up 30 percent at Rs 13 crore
• EBITDA up 19.9 percent at Rs 19.9 crore
• Margin at 9.75 percent versus 8.97 percent

Ramco System (Q2FY18, QoQ)

• Revenue up 4.5 percent at Rs 115 crore
• Profit of Rs 6.5 crore versus Net loss of Rs 3 crore
• EBIT at Rs 12.3 crore versus EBIT loss of Rs 2.9 crore
• Margin at 10.69 percent versus -2.6 percent

GE Power (Q2FY18, YoY)

• Revenue down 45 percent at Rs 262 crore
• Profit of Rs 6.6 crore versus net loss of Rs 97 crore
• EBITDA loss at Rs 1.5 crore versus EBITDA loss of Rs 116 crore
• Margin at -0.57 percent versus -24.19 percent

Hikal (Q2FY18, YoY)

• Revenue up 25.6 percent at Rs 292 crore
• Profit down 6 percent at Rs 15.3 crore
• EBITDA up 13.8 percent at Rs 53.5 crore
• Margin at 18.3 percent versus 20.2 percent

ABC Bearings (Q2FY18, YoY)

• Revenue up 20.5 percent at Rs 47 crore
• Profit up 43 percent at Rs 2 crore
• EBITDA up 26.7 percent at Rs 7.6 crore
• Margin at 16.2 percent versus 15.4 percent

Ador Fontech (Q2FY18, YoY)

• Revenue up 1.01 percent at Rs 39.7 crore
• Profit up 52.2 percent at Rs 3.5 crore
• EBITDA up 14 percent at Rs 4.9 crore
• Margin at 12.3 percent versus 10.9 percent

Eclerx Services (Q2FY18, QoQ)

• Revenue down 0.6 percent at Rs 331 crore
• Profit up 12.65 percent at Rs 89 crore
• EBIT down 4.5 percent at Rs 84 crore
• Margin at 25.4 percent versus 26.4 percent
• Exceptional gain of Rs 20.4 crore

Apar Industries (Q2FY18, YoY)

• Revenue down 2.8 percent at Rs 1248 crore
• Profit down 43.5 percent at Rs 26 crore
• EBITDA down 11 percent at Rs 89 crore
• Margin at 7.1 percent versus 7.7 percent

Mahindra Holidays & Resorts (Q2FY18, YoY)

• Revenue down 5.8 percent at Rs 243 crore
• Profit down 3.6 percent at Rs 31.7 crore
• EBITDA down 11.5 percent at Rs 54 crore
• Margin at 22.2 percent versus 23.6 percent

• Mahindra Logistics Limited IPO day 3. Issue subscribed 1.3 times at end of day 2
• New India Assurance IPO day 2. Issue subscribed 1 times at end of day 1
• Khadim India IPO opens. Issue Price at Rs 745-Rs 750 per share

• Circuit filter revised to 10 percent: Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances and Kavveri Telecom
• Circuit filter revised to 5 percent: Indowind Energy

Crompton Greaves Consumer

• Franklin Templeton Investment Fund bought 46.36 lakh shares or 0.7 percent equity stake at Rs 217.5 each.
• TIAA CREF Institutional MF International Equity Fund sold 68.13 lakh shares or 1.09 percent equity stake at Rs 217.5 each.

JB Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals

• ICICI Lombard General Insurance bought 20 lakh shares or 2.4 percent equity stake at Rs 288 each.
• Ashish Dhawan sold 19.52 lakh shares or 2.3 percent equity stake at Rs 288.12 each.

Mayur Uniquoters

• Small Cap World Fund bought 2.48 lakh shares or 0.5 percent equity stake at Rs 460.43 each.

A2Z Infra Engineering

• IL&FS Financial Services sold 9.43 lakh shares or 0.65 percent equity stake at Rs 38.05 each.

Bharat Wire Ropes

• Mentor Capital bought 23.36 lakh shares or 5.2 percent equity stake at an average of Rs 94.99 each .
• Aardee Multitrade sold entire stake of 15.53 lakh shares or 3.5 percent equity stake at Rs 95.99 each.
• Cosmos Prime Projects sold entire stake of 7.92 lakh shares or 1.8 percent equity stake at Rs 94 each.

Bhushan Steel

• EARC Trust SC 283 sold 44.36 lakh shares or 1.34 percent equity stake at an average Rs 60.4 each ..

Cholamandalam

• Norwest Ventures Partners X FII Mauritius sold 20.92 lakh shares or 1.3 percent equity stake at an average of Rs 1200.21 each.

Sinclair Hotels

• MCCS Investment Holding sold 3.51 lakh shares or 6.32 percent equity stake at Rs 335.94 each.
• Prabhudas Lilladhar bought 34,969 shares or 0.6 percent equity stake at Rs 332.38 each.

• Bharti Airtel to transfer optical fibre business to Telesonic Networks for an overall consideration of not more than Rs 5,650 crore
• Government approved sale of entire 73 percent stake in Dredging Corporation
• NBCC bagged reconstruction order worth Rs 400 crore
• Tata Teleservices says NTT Docomo tendered its entire stake of 21.63 percent to Tata Sons
• Asian Granito entered into a joint venture with Paramshree Granito Pvt Ltd for setting up a green field facility for Quartz stone
• TVS Motor’s October sales rose 3 percent year-on-year
• Shree Cements won a coal linkage auction for Chhattisgarh captive plant
• Solar Industries bagged order worth Rs 1,143.63 crore from Coal India for supply of bulk explosives
• JP Associates said RBI approved bond exchange plan and bondholders agreed to further extend the deadline to November 30
• AU Small Finance Bank entered into an agreement with Cholamandalam MS for General Insurance Business as Corporate Agent
• GOCL received order worth Rs 322 crore from Coal India for supply of bulk explosives
• Kolte- Patil in talks with private equity investors to set up Rs 500 crore real estate platform (Mint)

For a complete list of stocks to watch, click here

Motilal Oswal on Rain Industries

• Initiated ‘Buy’ rating with a price target of Rs 362; implying a potential upside of 33 percent from Wednesday’s close.
• Dual benefit of demand growth and supply shock driving CPC prices.
• Rain investing in high organic growth projects.
• Strong free cash flow generation to help deleverage its balance sheet.
• Expect Volume, Ebitda and net profit to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4 percent, 24 percent and 50 percent over four year till December 2009.
• Rain has re-rated on visibility of margin expansion and growth.
• Although stock has run up sharply, the valuations are still reasonable.
• Bull Case target of Rs 615.

CLSA on JSW Energy

• Maintained ‘Sell’; hiked price target to Rs 66 from Rs 57.
• Net profit led by one-offs; both M&A deals fell through—a positive.
• Negatives: lower ASPs, expiry of high-priced power purchase agreements and rise in sea-borne coal prices.
• Current rally unsustainable; Return on equity deterioration caps valuation.

CLSA on Hero MotoCorp

• Maintained ‘Sell’; hiked price target to Rs 3,000 from Rs 2,950.
• Operating performance impacted post implementation of GST.
• Expect current financial year to be a decent year for 2W, but growth to moderate in the next two financial years.
• Negatives: slowing industry growth, adverse demand profile shifts and multiple margin headwinds.
• Expect earnings per share to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6 percent over the three financial years till March 2020.

Credit Suisse on Hero MotoCorp

• Maintains Neutral; hiked price target to Rs 3,560 from Rs 3,230.
• Significant change in accounting of Haridwar revenues and costs impacted line items.
• Reduce estimates for the current financial year to build in state excise incentives not coming through.
• Margins in the second half likely to be softer on higher raw material prices and other expenses.
• Expect traction in two-wheeler volumes in the send half; Product launches should help further.

CLSA on Tech Mahindra

• Maintained ‘Sell’; hiked price target to Rs 450 from Rs 380.
• Strong execution upgrades margin assumptions by 80-90 basis points for the current financial year, driving 8-10 percent upgrades in earnings per share during the period.
• Negatives: uncertain long-term growth prospects, risks from M&A and likely exhaustion of margin momentum.
• TechM needs to institutionalise several processes that appear to be centrally imposed on resource management.

Credit Suisse on Tech Mahindra

• Maintained ‘Outperform’; hiked price target to Rs 550 from Rs 520.
• Margin trajectory shaping up well.
• Telecom still weak, while enterprise remains solid .
• Valuations remain attractive with our estimated compound annual growth rate of 18 percent EBIT over the two financial years till March 2020.

Credit Suisse on TVS

• Maintains Underperform; hiked price target to Rs 490 from Rs 400.
• Delivers margins in the previous quarter, but double-digit margin during the final quarter still unlikely.
• Raised earnings per share estimates for the current financial year till Marc 2020 by 5-10 percent for higher scooter and export volumes, higher margins of 50 basis points and building in the BMW tie-up products in the financials.
• TVS has exhibit faster-than-market growth compared to peers.

CLSA on TVS Motor Company

• Maintained ‘Sell’; hiked price target to Rs 350 from Rs 315.
• During the previos quarter, margins remain range-bound despite strong volume growth.
• Volume outlook better driven by scooters and exports.
• Don’t see a case for meaningful margin expansion given rising commodity prices and regulatory cost pressures ahead.
• Need to deliver Ebitda margin of 17 percent in the next financial years to justify 10 percent upside.

CLSA on Shriram Transport Finance

• Maintained ‘Sell’; hiked price target to Rs 1,000 from Rs 950.
• Uptick in asset under management growth a positive, but stay cautious.
• Asset under management growth and net interest margin expansion aided topline growth.
• Watch out for moderation in commercial vehicle sales growth in October and weaker pipeline of used .commercial vehicles.
• Earnings forecasts raised to factor better topline and annulling of merger talks.

CLSA on Godrej Consumer

• Maintained ‘Sell’; hiked price target to Rs 1,025 from Rs 940.
• India volume growth strong while Indonesia getting better.
• Cost savings too helped in margin expansion.
• Godrej Consumer expects much better in the second half of this financial year helped by launches and a low base.

Credit Suisse on Godrej Consumer

• Maintained ‘Outperform’; hiked price target to Rs 1,125 from Rs 1,100.
• The previous quarter displayed a strongest domestic volume growth despite a high base, worst is over in Indonesia.
• Expect Indonesia to gradually recover on a low base.
• India innovation pipeline continues to be very strong.
• Godrej Consumer is the top pick in FMCG space.

Credit Suisse on Hexaware

• Maintained ‘Neutral’; hiked price target to Rs 265 from Rs 230.
• Management remains optimistic about sustaining the strong growth momentum.
• The last quarter may be soft due to seasonality and full quarter impact of client headwinds; Medium-term outlook positive.
• Raised earnings estimates by 4-7 percent, accounting for lower tax rate and slightly higher margins.

• Fed signals December hike on track
• Tesla is three years away from making cars in China, Musk says
• Here’s what’s at stake on Trump’s Asia trip
• Record sales help Hero MotoCorp as it awaits GST refund
• Tech Mahindra betters the most bullish earnings forecast
• Cognizant hikes sales forecast on lower costs, growing investments
• For business, India has gotten a bit easier: Bloomberg View
• UPI transactions may soon cost you as volumes surge
• Boiler blast at NTPC plant leaves at least 20 dead, 100 injured
• October auto sales a mixed bag as festive buying moderates
• Linking Aadhaar to mobile numbers ‘environment friendly’, says TRAI chief

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, fell 0.2 percent to 10,462.

A rally in Asian stocks that drove prices to the highest level in ten years showed signs of tiring as U.S. equity-index futures declined. The dollar headed lower as investors digest news that President Donald Trump will pick Jerome Powell to lead the Federal Reserve.

Here are some of the remaining scheduled events this week:

• Trump starts an 11-day trip to Asia, his first as president, on Friday. Trade and security issues -- particularly North Korea -- will probably be in focus.
• The slew of earnings releases will culminate with Apple Inc. results.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.1 percent to $54.25 a barrel.
• Gold was up 0.2 percent to $1,277.46 an ounce.
• The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose to the highest level since March on Wednesday.