08:12 AM EST, 01/22/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures edged up pre-bell Wednesday after the Trump administration committed to making the US a leader in artificial intelligence.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.3%, while S&P 500 futures increased 0.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq futures moved ahead 0.6%.

Oil prices inched up after Tuesday's losses, with the front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent up 0.1% to $79.36 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude up less than 0.1% to $75.35 per barrel.

Traders are watching the market impact of a flurry earnings reports from big pharma companies, including Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Abbott Laboratories (ABT) and GE Vernova (GEV), as well as President Trump's announcement of the $500 billion "Stargate" initiative to build up US AI capacity involving Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI, Oracle (ORCL), and SoftBank.

On the economic calendar, investors are looking ahead to the 10 am ET release of the Index of Leading Indicators. Analysts are expecting a slight decline in the index for December.