Small-cap stocks are expected to open slightly lower this morning, in line with a very mild overnight dip in equities. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down about 0.1% in after-hours trading (trimming earlier declines), which would equate to near 724 at the start of today's trading.

Large-cap futures were pulled down overnight by soft earnings from Visa (NYSE:V), which was down some 4%. In addition, Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) was off more than 7% on news that the FDA rejected a new cholesterol drug from the pharmaceutical firm.

Overseas stocks were mixed overnight, with Japan flat, Hong Kong up 0.9%, and European shares down some 0.3% after Deutsche Bank generated its first quarterly loss in five years and Michelin tumbled about 8% on weak earnings.

Some of the buyer reluctance from late yesterday and overnight may be tied to jitters in front of today’s 10:00 a.m. ET Consumer Confidence report, especially . . .

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