07:12 AM EDT, 06/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Wall Street futures pointed modestly higher pre-bell Wednesday as traders waited for an inflation report and the Federal Reserve's policy statement.

The May consumer price index (CPI) report is scheduled for 8:30 am ET, with pundits projecting a 3.4% year-on-year gain and a 3.5% rise in core CPI that strips out certain food and energy prices.

The Fed will disclose any policy changes at 2 pm ET, followed by a 2:30 pm press conference with Chair Jerome Powell. Analysts will parse the central bank's quarterly forecast, or "dot plots," for possible future rate cuts.

In the futures, the S&P 500 rose 0.1%, the Nasdaq inclined 0.2% and the Dow Jones was up 0.1%, with major equity indices again poised to test record highs.

Asian exchanges traded choppily overnight, in part dampened by soft May inflation reports from China pointing to a wan national economy. European bourses tracked moderately higher midday on the continent.

Oracle (ORCL) rose 8.7% pre-bell after the IT services giant reported signing AI deals with OpenAI and Google (GOOG, GOOGL). The deal-making overshadowed sluggish fiscal Q4 results posted late Tuesday.

Broadcom (AVGO) plans to report earnings after the close, among others.

Also on the economic calendar is the weekly report from the EIA on domestic oil inventories at 10:30 am ET.

In premarket action, Bitcoin traded at $67,877, West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded higher at $78.83, and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.40%. Spot gold traded for $2,314 an ounce.