Stock Futures Tick Lower

FOX Business: Capitalism Lives Here

U.S. stock-index futures slipped on Tuesday after a gauge of small business optimism fell and traders looked through corporate reports.

Today's Markets

As of 8:10 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 12 points, or 0.08%, to 15711, S&P 500 futures dipped 2.8 points to 1765 and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 5.5 points to 3348.

Small businesses are a key part of the American economy -- consistently creating jobs and output. The National Federation of Independent Business's measure of small business confidence slumped to 91.6 in October from 93.9 the month before, "largely due to a precipitous decline in hiring plans and expectations for future small-business conditions."

"Washington paralysis is never good news for the economy, so it was no surprise that while politicians were arguing over whether or not the government should remain fully operational, small-business optimism measures deteriorated," said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg, in the report.

Elsewhere, News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA), the former parent of FOX Business, posted fiscal first-quarter earnings that missed expectations after the closing bell Monday. Results from Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) are due out after the closing bell Tuesday.

On the global front, China's Third Plenum, which is a meeting in which the new government there sets its goals for the next decade, has reportedly concluded. Economists are widely expecting some levels of new reforms in the world's No. 2 economy.

Elsewhere, U.S. crude oil futures fell 38 cents, or 0.4%, to $94.76 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline rose 0.18% to $2.60 a gallon. In metals, gold edged up by 70 cents, or 0.05%, to $1,282 a troy ounce.