Futures on Wall Street Relatively Unchanged

Stock futures are indicating another muted open, with futures tied to all three major U.S. benchmarks hovering just above fair-market value. This comes after the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) both slipped from record highs, as investors unpack a healthy serving of corporate earnings reports.

Elsewhere, U.S. crude futures continue their trek lower, with the benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) breeching the $71 level after Israel said it would not attack Iran's oil facilities. 

Continue reading for more on today's market, including: 

• Re-examining how small cap stocks are performing.
• Bank stock hits record highs after earnings.
• Plus, notable earnings to know this morning, and Cisco stock downgraded.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 1.9 million call contracts and 1 million put contracts exchanged on Tuesday. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.57 and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.64.
2. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) stock is 4% higher before the bell, after the banking giant reported third-quarter earnings of $1.88 per share on revenue of $3.2 billion, both of which beat analysts' estimates. Year over year, MS is already up 42.5%.
3. United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) stock is up 1.5% ahead of the open, after the airliner's third-quarter earnings and revenue both topped Wall Street's expectations. UAL is looking to add to a 55.2% year-to-date lead.
4. Citi upgraded shares of networking company Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) to "buy" from "neutral" this morning, while also lifting its price target to $62 from $52. The analyst in coverage is bullish on Cisco's ethernet artificial intelligence (AI). CSCO is on track to add to its modest 7% year-to-date lead, up 1.9% premarket.
5. Take a look at what to expect this week.

U.K. Inflation Rate Stages Dramatic Drop

Asian markets were mostly lower today, with Japan’s Nikkei pacing the region with a 1.8% pullback. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished 0.2% lower, despite outsized moves from real estate stocks. China’s Shanghai Composite managed a 0.05% gain ahead of the housing minister’s press briefing tomorrow. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.9%, as the unemployment rate of 2.5% exceeded expectations for September.

European bourses are more of a mixed bag, with semiconductor stocks among the notable laggards. London’s FTSE 100 is 0.8% higher at last check, after September’s inflation rate fell to 1.7%, a dramatic drop from the 2.2% figure in August, and additional fuel to the rate-cut fire for the Bank of England in November. Rounding out the region, the French CAC 40 is 0.6% lower, while the German DAX is off by 0.2%, the latter weighed down by dismal third-quarter sales from luxury giant LVMH.