08:54 AM EDT, 03/12/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were rising ahead of Wednesday's opening bell as traders digested a reading on US inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.6%, S&P 500 futures increased 0.8%, and Nasdaq futures were 1% higher.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmarks North Sea Brent crude up 1.3% at $70.50 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 1.5% higher at $67.24 per barrel.

The consumer price index, released at 8:30 am ET, showed a 0.2% increase in consumer prices for February following a 0.5% uptick in the preceding month, compared with estimates compiled by Bloomberg for a larger 0.3% increase.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.07% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.8% lower, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.2% lower. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was up 0.7%, and Germany's DAX index was 1.7% higher in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Rocket Lab USA ( RKLB ) were 9% higher pre-bell after the company said it secured a contract from Airbus to provide space-grade solar panels.

On the losing side, Zynex ( ZYXI ) stock was down 32% after the company overnight reported it swung to a Q4 loss and posted lower net revenue.