Wall Street opens little changed; French election eyed

Overall, profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 11.1% in the quarter

Wall Street opened little changed on Friday as earnings rolled in, while investors braced for the first round of the closely contested French presidential election.

Centrist Emmanuel Macron is leading most opinion polls for the election's first round on Sunday and is expected to contest a second-round run-off with Marine Le Pen, head of the anti-European Union and anti-immigrant National Front.

"Although Macron has been labeled as favorite to become the next French President, an unexpected Marine Le Pen victory could deal a symbolic blow to the unity of the European Union and ultimately create a tidal wave of risk aversion," FXTM analyst Lukman Otunuga said in a note.

 

After a two-week losing streak, major indexes may cling on to their gains this week following Thursday's rally, which was driven partly by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's comments that an overhaul of the tax code would be unveiled very soon.

"The comments about the tax reform and generally good quarterly earnings are giving equities a bit of a boost," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Of the 82 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings through Thursday afternoon, about 75 percent have topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, above the 71 percent average for the past four quarters.

Overall, profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 11.1 percent in the quarter, the best since 2011.

At 9:38 a.m. ET (1338 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 7.04 points, or 0.03 percent, at 20,585.75 and the S&P 500 was down 1.11 points, or 0.04 percent, at 2,354.73.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 4.74 points, or 0.08 percent, at 5,912.03.

Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with the telecommunications index's 0.53 percent fall leading the decliners.

On the economic front, data is expected to show March existing home sales expanded slightly to 5.6 million from 5.48 million in February. The data is expected at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT).

Oil prices edged lower, on course for the biggest weekly drop in a month, over doubts that an OPEC-led production cut will restore balance to an oversupplied market. [O/R]

Shares of Dow component Visa were up 1.4 percent at $92.40 after the payments network operator's quarterly results beat expectations.

General Electric was little changed at $30.30 after the company's revenue beat Wall Street expectations.

Schlumberger was down 3.2 percent at $74.12 after the oilfield services provider said costs would continue to weigh on margins over the next two quarters.

Mattel fell 5.7 percent to $23.76 after the toymaker reported a far bigger-than-expected quarterly loss and drop in sales.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,455 to 1,081. On the Nasdaq, 1,375 issues fell and 843 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed nine new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 23 new highs and six new lows.