07:07 AM EST, 01/14/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were tracking in the green before the opening bell Tuesday as traders await last month's data on producer prices.

Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.3% and the Nasdaq added 0.5% in premarket activity. The majority of Asian exchanges were pointing higher while European bourses were heading north midday on the continent.

December's producer price index report, a measure for wholesale prices, is scheduled to be released at 8:30 am ET. Also on Tuesday's economic calendar, the National Federation of Independent Business small business optimism index showed a 3.4-point increase in December to 105.1.

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Jeffrey Schmid is slated to speak at 10 am, while New York Fed President John Williams speaks at 3:05 pm.

Shares of H&E Equipment Services ( HEES ) soared 104% pre-bell after the company agreed to be acquired by United Rentals ( URI ) in a deal worth roughly $4.8 billion, including $1.4 billion of debt. KB Home ( KBH ) advanced 9.4% pre-bell as the homebuilder reported better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results.

Moderna ( MRNA ) fell 1% after closing the previous session down 17%. Trump Media & Technology ( DJT ) fell 4.7% while XPeng's ( XPEV ) US-listed shares climbed 9.1%.

Applied Digital ( APLD ) is set to report its latest financial results after the markets close.

Before the opening bell, bitcoin traded up 3.9% at $96,533, West Texas Intermediate crude oil decreased 0.4% to $78.54 a barrel, yields on 10-year Treasuries retreated 1.9 basis points to 4.79% and gold edged 0.1% higher to $2,680 an ounce.