08:49 AM EDT, 03/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures were little changed before Wednesday's opening bell as traders turned cautious ahead of key economic data later in the week.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.1%, S&P 500 futures slipped 0.05%, and Nasdaq futures were down 0.3%.

Investors are awaiting producer prices and retail sales reports scheduled for release on Thursday for further clues on the future direction of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude and US West Texas Intermediate up more than 1.7% each, on signs of declining supply in the US. Industry group American Petroleum Institute reported a 5.521 million-barrel decline in US crude stockpiles in the week ended March 8, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 2.2% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished 1.4% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite ended 0.7% higher. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 gained 0.1%, and Germany's DAX index slipped 0.4% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Beauty Health ( SKIN ) were up 21% pre-bell after the company reported Q4 results that topped estimates. Minim (MINM) shares rose 40% on a deal to merge with privately held e2Companies.

On the losing side, ZIM (ZIM) shares fell 5.8% after the company reported a Q4 loss on lower revenue. SurgePays ( SURG ) shares slumped 25% after the company reported lower Q4 revenue.