* Futures up: Dow 0.19%, S&P 500 0.23%, Nasdaq 0.19%

* IEA to announce oil reserve recommendation at 1300 GMT

* Inflation report expected to show a rise in consumer

prices

* JPMorgan tightens lending to private credit groups,

report says

* Oracle shares rise on upbeat 2027 revenue forecast

(Updates prices throughout)

By Johann M Cherian and Utkarsh Hathi

March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged

higher in choppy trading on Wednesday as investors assessed the

outlook for crude prices and awaited a key inflation report,

while tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate.

Energy prices whipsawed as traders weighed reports that

Germany and Japan were looking at releasing oil reserves to

stabilize supply ahead of a decision by the International Energy

Agency, in the face of intensifying air strikes in the Middle

East that are likely to ground shipping through the strategic

Strait of Hormuz for a while.

The International Energy Agency is expected to recommend the

release of 400 million barrels of oil reserves at 1300 GMT.

Remarks from President Donald Trump earlier this week

offered markets some reassurance that the war might not be drawn

out for months. Oil prices, which had neared $120 a barrel

earlier in the week, have since dropped to under $90 a barrel.

Later in the day, a report is expected to show consumer

prices likely picked up in February as tariffs were passed

through to consumers, which could add to worries that rising

gasoline costs could further stoke inflation in the coming

months. The levies were deemed unconstitutional late last month.

Expectations for a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate cut

have been pushed back to September from July, according to

LSEG-compiled data.

Signs of a softening jobs market are likely to further

complicate the central bank's monetary policymaking.

"The big concern for the markets is to what extent this

supply shock leads to higher inflation, weaker growth, interest

rates that are higher than they would otherwise have been, and

lower profitability," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market

analyst at Capital.com.

At 7:16 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 110 points,

or 0.23%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 15.5 points,

or 0.23%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 47.5 points,

or 0.19%.

Wall Street's fear gauge, the CBOE volatility index,

was down 0.28 points at 24.65.

Meanwhile, Oracle predicted that the AI data center

boom will power its revenue above estimates well into 2027,

sending its shares up 10% in premarket trading.

Semiconductor stocks such as Nvidia ( NVDA ), Broadcom ( AVGO )

and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) were marginally

higher.

Travel stocks, which are sensitive to energy prices, were

mixed on Wednesday. American Airlines ( AAL ) edged up 0.9%,

while cruise liner Carnival was up slightly.

Remarks from Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman

are due later in the day and will be scrutinized for any policy

direction.

Investors were also monitoring developments in the private

credit space.

JPMorgan Chase marked down the value of certain

loans held by private-credit groups and is tightening its

lending to the sector, a report said.

Ares Management ( ARES ) was down 1.2%, while Apollo Global

was down modestly.

Among others, defense company AeroVironment ( AVAV ) dropped

10.5% after forecasting 2026 adjusted profit below estimates.

Nike ( NKE ) gained 2.1% after Barclays upgraded the

athletic wear maker to "overweight" from "equal-weight".