Stocks ended with small losses after a volatile session of trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 22.21 points or 0.06% to settle at 36,351.23. The Nifty 50 index fell 23.35 points or 0.21% to settle at 10,957.10. Gains triggered by index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC were almost offset by slide in Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T and HDFC.

Investors were cautious ahead of a no-confidence motion against the government. On Friday, 20 July 2018, the parliament will debate a no-confidence motion tabled by opposition parties against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on Wednesday, 18 July 2018, the first day of the monsoon session. The monsoon session of Parliament began on Wednesday, 18 July 2018, and it will conclude on 10 August 2018.

Trading was volatile. After opening higher, the market hit fresh intraday low in early trade. Shares bounced back in morning trade. Indices pared gains in early afternoon trade as profit booking emerged at higher levels. Indices witnessed selling pressure in afternoon trade. Key benchmarks pared losses in mid-afternoon trade and ended the session with small losses.

The Sensex fell 22.21 points or 0.06% to settle at 36,351.23. The Sensex rose 142.14 points, or 0.39% at the day's high of 36,515.58 in early trade. The index fell 94.11 points, or 0.26% at the day's low of 36,279.33 in mid-afternoon trade.

The Nifty 50 index fell 23.35 points or 0.21% to settle at 10,957.10. The Nifty rose 26.05 points, or 0.24% at the day's high of 11,006.50 in early trade. The index fell 45 points, or 0.41% at the day's low of 10,935.45 in mid-afternoon trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.63%. The BSE Small-Cap index fell 1%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 827 shares rose and 1754 shares fell. A total of 146 shares were unchanged.

Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Consumer Durables index (up 0.99%), the S&P BSE FMCG index (up 0.52%), the S&P BSE Oil & Gas index (up 0.17%) outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Capital Goods index (down 1.8%), the S&P BSE Healthcare index (down 1.25%), the S&P BSE IT index (down 0.79%) underperformed the Sensex.

Hero MotoCorp (down 1.22%), Tata Steel (down 0.98%), Coal India (down 0.95%), HDFC (down 0.91%) and TCS (down 0.79%) were the major Sensex losers.

Vedanta (up 2.21%), Yes Bank (up 1.93%), ITC (up 1.71%), Bharti Airtel (up 1.69%) and Reliance Industries (up 1.22%) were the major Sensex gainers.

Capital goods stocks edged lower. Larsen & Toubro (down 2.61%), ABB India (down 2.47%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (down 0.23%), BEML (down 1.54%), Bharat Electronics (down 1.81%), Punj Lloyd (down 1.73%), Siemens (down 1.28%) and Thermax (down 1.14%) declined.

Pharma shares declined. Cadila Healthcare (down 3.05%), Cipla (down 2.57%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.65%), Lupin (down 1.8%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.81%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 1.14%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 1.04%) and Wockhardt (down 1.72%) fell. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 0.96%) and Alkem Laboratories (up 0.26%) rose.

Kotak Mahindra Bank lost 3.69%. The bank announced during trading hours today, 19 July 2018, that its net profit rose 12.29% to Rs 1024.94 crore on 19.44% increase in total income to Rs 6644.29 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q1 June 2017. The banks operating profit increased to Rs 2033 crore in Q1 June 2018 from Rs 1596 crore in Q1 June 2017. Net Interest Income rose 15% to Rs 2583 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q1 June 2017.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) stood at Rs 3899.45 crore as on 30 June 2018 from Rs 3825.38 crore as on 31 March 2018 and Rs 3726.62 crore as on 30 June 2017. The ratio of gross NPAs to gross advances stood at 2.17% as on 30 June 2018 from 2.22% as on 31 March 2018 and 2.58% as on 30 June 2017. The ratio of net NPAs to net advances stood at 0.86% as on 30 June 2018 from 0.98% as on 31 March 2018 and 1.25% as on 30 June 2017. Capital adequacy ratio of the bank, including unaudited profits, as per Basel III, as on 30 June 2018 is 18.3% and Tier I ratio is 17.6%.

Infosys shed 0.44%. The company announced during trading hours today, 19 July 2018, that its philanthropic arm, Infosys Foundation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) towards the construction of a station at Konappana Agrahara, in Electronics City. This station is under the second phase of Bangalore Metro's expansion plans and the Foundation has committed to maintaining this station for the next 30 years.

JSW Steel advanced 3.08%. JSW Steel said that the company has scheduled a board meeting on 25 July 2018 to consider raising of long term funds through issuance of Redeemable Non-Convertible Debentures by way of a public issuance or private placement. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 18 July 2018.

MindTree dropped 8.67%. On a consolidated basis, the company's net profit fell 13.2% to Rs 158.20 crore on 12% growth in revenue to Rs 1639.50 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q4 March 2018. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 18 July 2018.

JK Tyre & Industries fell 0.64%. The company reported turnaround in Q1 result which was announced after market hours yesterday, 18 July 2018. The company reported consolidated net profit of Rs 64.24 crore in Q1 June 2018 as compared to net loss of Rs 117.21 crore in Q1 June 2017. Total income rose 34.57% to Rs 2446.09 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q1 June 2017. The company's subsidiaries namely, JK Tornel, Mexico and Cavendish Industries have performed well during the quarter. Labour restructuring completed at JK Tornel last year is reaping good dividend which has added to the over-all profitability.

DFM Foods rose 1.47% after the company scheduled a board meeting on 6 August 2018 to consider the proposal of sub-division of equity shares of the company. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 18 July 2018.

Overseas, most European stocks fell as investors focused on a mixed bag of company results. Asian shares declined. Japan logged a trade surplus in June, after booking a deficit the previous month, official data showed Thursday, with exports rising despite ongoing international trade tensions. Finance ministry data showed a surplus of 721.4 billion yen ($6.4 billion), up 66.5% from a year earlier. Japan's exports were up 6.7% while imports also edged up 2.5%, according to the data.

US stocks finished mostly higher Wednesday as an anecdotal account of business conditions in the Federal Reserve's 12 districts painted an upbeat picture of the domestic economy. The Fed's Beige Book revealed a domestic economy that has rapidly expanded, but one that has run out of room to grow much faster as shortages of skilled workers and rising costs of raw materials risk impeding another leg of expansion. The anecdotal account of business conditions in the Fed's 12 districts showed that 11 regions of the country were growing at a modest pace or even faster. Only the states around St. Louis reported slight growth.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appeared before the House Committee on Financial Services Wednesday, 18 July 2018, to face questioning from lawmakers on the Fed's plans going forward. Powell also faced questioning Tuesday.

Testifying on Wednesday in front of the House Financial Services Committee, Powell emphasized the US central bank's desire to raise rates further this year and said he sees few signs that an economic recession is on the horizon.

On a US data front, Housing starts in June dropped by 12.3% from lowered numbers in May and were 3% lower than year-ago levels.

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