Stock futures were little changed Thursday as investors awaited a key inflation report to assess the outlook for the Federal Reserve's rate-hiking campaign.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials jumped 44 points, or 0.1%, early Thursday to 34,154.
Futures for the S&P 500 poked ahead 4.75 points, or 0.1%, to 3,994.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite squeezed 1.75 points to 11,478.25.
All eyes are on December's consumer price index reading with the consensus forecast calling for a slight easing in price pressures.
Economists expect the consumer price index to dip 0.1% for December but rise 6.5% year-over-year, compared to a 0.1% monthly gain in November and an annual pace of 7.1%, according to Dow Jones. The CPI is well off the 9.1% peak rate in June.
Excluding food and energy prices, economists expect the CPI for December will be 0.3% higher than the prior month and 5.7% higher than a year ago.
Jefferies upgraded Netflix to buy from hold, citing a potential increase in revenue as the streaming giant cracks down on password sharing. The stock gained 1.3% in pre-market trading.
American Airlines shares rose 3% in the premarket after the airline hiked its fourth-quarter earnings guidance. The company now expects earnings for the quarter to come in between $1.12 and $1.17 per share, up from a previous range of 50 cents to 70 cents.
Cleveland-Cliffs shares rose more than 2% in the premarket after Morgan Stanley upgraded the steel producer to overweight from equal-weight, citing a boost from higher fixed annual steel price contracts.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 eked up nearly four points, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index added 0.4%.
Oil prices moved up 98 cents to $78.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices progressed $12.70 to $1,891.60 U.S. an ounce.