07:04 AM EDT, 08/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity markets edged higher in Wednesday's premarket activity as traders await a key inflation report.

Standard & Poor's 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq were all slightly in the green before the opening bell. The majority of Asian exchanges were trending upwards, while European bourses were heading north.

The consumer price index report for July is scheduled for an 8:30 am ET release. The data comes a day after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that producer prices increased less than projected last month.

Wednesday's economic calendar also has the weekly mortgage applications bulletin at 7 am, as well as the weekly EIA domestic petroleum inventories report at 10:30 am.

Cardinal Health ( CAH ) , Performance Food Group ( PFGC ) , Global-E Online ( GLBE ) and CAE (CAE) report their latest financial results before the bell, among others. Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) posts earnings after the markets close.

Shares of Starbucks ( SBUX ) slipped 1% pre-bell after closing the previous session with a 25% jump on news that the coffee giant poached Chipotle Mexican Grill ( CMG ) Chief Executive Brian Niccol for its own top role. Kellanova ( K ) advanced 6.4% following media reports that the company is nearing a potential $30 billion deal to be acquired by Mars.

Before the bell, bitcoin increased 0.8% to $61,255, West Texas Intermediate crude oil decreased 0.3% to $78.15 a barrel, yields on 10-year Treasuries retreated 2.1 basis points to 3.83% and gold moved up 0.2% to $2,512 an ounce.