By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

Home Depot, Travelers Companies, Inc. weigh on Dow industrials

U.S. stocks retreated from record levels on Thursday, with investors focusing on a mixed batch of earnings, economic data and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's news conference following policy meeting.

The main indexes were trading slightly lower, having set intraday record shortly after the opening bell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by 55 points, or 0.3%, to 21,584. Shares of Home Depot, Inc, (HD) which fell nearly 4.5%, putting its shares on pace for its worst trading day since Jan. 16, 2016, and cutting about 45 points from the price-weighted Dow. A 2% decline in Travelers Companies Inc.(TRV) also weighed on the blue-chip benchmark.

The S&P 500 index was trading at breakeven levels at 2,473, with six of its 11 main sectors trading lower. Materials and industrials were leading the losses, down 0.9% and 0.6%, respectively. Telecoms, health-care and utilities shares were leading the gains, with gains between 0.4% and 0.6%.

The Nasdaq Composite Index , meanwhile, was flat at 6,387. The tech-heavy index is coming off a nine-day streak of gains, and some analysts suggested that a mild pullback after several consecutive sessions of gains isn't surprising.

All three main indexes, as well the Russell 2000 closed at record levels on Wednesday.

Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James, in emailed notes said he remained sanguine about U.S. equities, despite signs that valuations are overstretched on a short-term basis.

"This does not mean the near-term momentum is over as it should extend into mid-August, but most likely the sideways movement over the past few weeks is coming to an end," he wrote. "To reiterate, any downside pressure should continue to be muted while the conditions by the end of next week favor the upside."

Ahead of the market open, weekly jobless claims plunged (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jobless-claims-plummet-15000-to-233000-2017-07-20), highlighting a labor market that has conveyed consistent signs of health. Meanwhile, a reading of manufacturing (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/philly-fed-manufacturing-report-shows-slowing-growth-in-july-2017-07-20) from Philadelphia, known as the Philly Fed, manufacturing cooled to a reading of 19.5 from 27.6 in June.

Need to Know: Here's where a storm's a-comin' for investors, this global forecast says (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-where-a-storms-a-comin-for-investors-this-global-forecast-says-2017-07-20)

The ECB left key rates unchanged (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-central-bank-leaves-rates-unchanged-focus-on-draghi-2017-07-20), but Mario Draghi was vague about future asset purchases, stressing a tightening of financial conditions due to euro's recent appreciation.

Traders, however, continued to bid up the shared currency, which rose 1% to trade at $1.1632, having appreciated by more than 10% since the start of the year.

Check out: Recap of live blog of the ECB's news conference (http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2017/07/20/ecb-live-blog-mario-draghi-walks-the-policy-tightrope/?mod=MW_story_latest_news)

Read: BAML's Hartnett sees global snub for U.S. stocks as more fuel for upside (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bamls-hartnett-sees-global-snub-of-us-stocks-as-more-fuel-for-upside-2017-07-19)

Stocks in focus:Philip Morris International Inc.(PM) shares fell 1% after the cigarette maker lowered guidance and revenues and delivered an earnings miss (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/philip-morris-stock-slides-as-it-lowers-guidance-and-revenues-earnings-miss-2017-07-20).

Shares of Travelers Inc.(TRV) fell 2% after the insurer posted a lower profit amid higher catastrophe and weather-related losses (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/travelers-posts-lower-profit-as-catastrophe-and-weather-related-losses-climb-2017-07-20). The stock, a Dow component, was one of the biggest drags on the blue-chip average.

Shares of Home Depot Inc. fell more than 4% in the wake of Sears Holdings Corp.'s (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sears-shares-jump-after-kenmore-brand-appliances-launch-on-amazon-2017-07-20)(SHLD) announcement that it will sell appliances through Amazon.com. Shares of rival Lowe's Companies(LOW) dropped 6.3%.

Kinder Morgan's(KMI) shares rallied 5% after the company announced a dividend hike, buyback plan and second-quarter results.

Check out:Preview of Microsoft earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/microsoft-earnings-massive-changes-are-ahead-2017-07-19)

Qualcomm Inc.(QCOM) fell 5.1%, after the chip maker's quarterly earnings met forecasts late Wednesday, but its forecast made no mention of sales related to Apple Inc.(AAPL) products.

Shares of T-Mobile US Inc.(TMUS)(TMUS) initially rose after strong second-quarter earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/t-mobile-second-quarter-earnings-more-than-double-2017-07-19) from the wireless carrier late Wednesday, but reversed to trade slightly lower.

Microsoft Corp.(MSFT), Visa Inc.(V), eBay Inc.(EBAY) and Capitol One Financial Corp.(COF) are among those companies reporting after the close.

Read:Qualcomm's issues go beyond Apple fight (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/qualcomms-issues-go-beyond-apple-fight-2017-07-19)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/qualcomms-issues-go-beyond-apple-fight-2017-07-19) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ptc-shares-fall-after-hours-on-weak-outlook-2017-07-19)Other markets: Stocks rose in Asia (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-post-gains-awaiting-central-bank-decisions-2017-07-19) after the Bank of Japan pushed back on its inflation target, which fueled some hopes for more monetary stimulus (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-of-japan-leaves-monetary-policy-alone-pushes-back-inflation-goals-2017-07-19). The Stoxx Europe 600 index gyrated as Mario Draghi commented during the news conference, but were trading flat.

The ICE Dollar Index sank (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-holds-steady-at-115-as-all-eyes-turn-to-ecb-meeting-2017-07-20), especially against the euro , which rose to $1.1632 after Draghi's comments.

Oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-ease-ahead-of-data-that-may-show-rising-us-inventories-2017-07-19) retreated, giving up earlier gains to trade lower, while gold prices picked up steam, up 0.3% at $1,245.70 an ounce in recent trade, on the back of the weaker dollar.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 20, 2017 12:05 ET (16:05 GMT)