The major indexes are nearly flat at midday after the S&P and Nasdaq made new highs this morning. Investors are focusing on mixed earnings, economic data and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s news conference saying he will discuss stimulus steps in the Fall.  For now, the ECB left rates unchanged, but Mario Draghi didn’t give much clarity about future asset purchase.

Politics is an added excuse for a bit of profit taking after recent gains. Tech continues to be strong, propelling the broader market higher.

Home Depot fell 4% after Sears announced it would sell its Kenmore home line on Amazon, costing 50 points off the Dow and weighing the most on the S&P 500.

Weekly jobless claims dropped, showing a healthy labor market, and Philly Fed manufacturing report in July slowed to 19.5 from 27.6 in June.

After the bell, Microsoft (MSFT) will report along with other names including EBAY and Visa. MSFT is priced for perfection, making a new 52-week high today.  The key piece of the earnings report will be the cloud business segment.  Forecasts are for 71 cents per share and revenue of $24.27 billion. The company has beat estimates in the past 4 quarters. A good report from this giant could be a catalyst for a move higher in tech.

Overall volume is low today.  Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,472 to 1,231. On the Nasdaq, 1,337 issues rose and 1,271 fell.