09:00 AM EDT, 07/11/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures posted narrow gains before Thursday's opening bell as traders digested inflation and weekly jobless claims data for a possible clue to the direction of interest rates at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting at the end of this month.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.1%, S&P 500 futures increased 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures were up 0.2%.

Oil prices were little changed, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 0.4% at $85.40 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.4% at $82.40 per barrel, as government data released Wednesday showed a 3.4 million-barrel drop in US commercial crude oil inventories.

The consumer price index, released at 8:30 am ET, showed a 0.1% monthly downtick in consumer prices for June versus estimates compiled by Bloomberg for a 0.1% increase. Jobless claims fell to 222,000 in the week ended July 6 from 239,000 in the preceding week, compared with estimates for 235,000 claims.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.9% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 2.1% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 1.1% higher. Meanwhile, UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.1%, and Germany's DAX index increased 0.7%, and France's CAC 40 increased 0.9% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Delta Airlines (DAL) were 9% lower pre-bell after the carrier posted lower Q2 adjusted earnings.

On the wining side, Cyngn ( CYN ) shares were up 28% after the company said it added Alta Equipment Group to its dealer network. QuantumScape ( QS ) stock was up 34% after the company said it partnered with Volkswagen's PowerCo unit on solid-state lithium-metal battery technology.