U.S. stocks waver ahead of French election

U.S. stocks wavered and traded mixed in the morning session Friday, as investors became cautious ahead of France's presidential election.

By noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 7.96 points, or 0.04 percent, to 20,586.67. The S&P 500 lost 3.58 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,352.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 2.66 points, or 0.05 percent, to 5,914.11.

The world turned its attention to the French presidential election which is set to start on Sunday.

Meanwhile, traders also kept an eye on earnings season. Shares of General Electric was down 1.95 percent early Friday even though the company posted better-than-expected quarterly results.

Visa also reported strong quarterly results on Friday and announced a 5 billion U.S. dollars share repurchase program. Shares of Visa ticked up 0.44 percent around midday Friday.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the first quarter of 2017 are expected to rise 11.2 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to increase 6.8 percent.

Nasdaq notched a record close on Thursday, as investors cheered U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's remarks on tax reform.

Mnuchin said that the administration will unveil a tax plan very soon, according to media reports. Endit