08:59 AM EDT, 04/10/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures dropped ahead of Thursday's opening bell as traders digested the March consumer price index report.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 1.1%, S&P 500 futures fell 1.5%, and Nasdaq futures were 1.9% lower.

Oil prices were mixed, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 1.3% at $63.64 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 2.9% lower at $60.53 per barrel.

The Consumer Price Index, released at 8:30 am ET, showed a 0.1% decline in consumer prices in March following a 0.2% increase in February, compared with estimates compiled by Bloomberg for a 0.1% uptick. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims came in at 223,000 in the week ended April 5 versus 219,000 claims in the preceding week, in line with expectations.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 9.1% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 2.1% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 1.2% higher. Meanwhile, UK's FTSE 100 rose 3.8%, Germany's DAX index increased 4.9%, France's CAC 40 rose 4.8% and Spain's IBEX 35 gained 5% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of US Steel (X) were nearly 12% lower pre-bell after media reports that President Donald Trump said he is against the proposed sale of the company to Japan's Nippon Steel. Venus Concept ( VERO ) shares were down 50%, a day after the company unveiled a $1.1 million registered direct offering of common stock.