U.S. stock index futures edged lower in choppy trading Wednesday as investors assessed the outlook for crude prices and awaited a key inflation report, while tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate.

Energy prices whipsawed as traders weighed reports that Germany and Japan were looking at releasing oil reserves to stabilize supply ahead of a decision by the International Energy Agency, in the face of intensifying air strikes in the Middle East that are likely to ground shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz for a while.

The International Energy Agency is expected to recommend the release of 400 million barrels of oil reserves at 1300 GMT.

Remarks from President Donald Trump earlier this week offered markets some reassurance that the war might not be drawn out for months. Oil prices, which had neared $120 a barrel earlier in the week, have since dropped to under $90 a barrel.

Later in the day, a report is expected to show consumer prices likely picked up in February as tariffs were passed through to consumers, which could add to worries that rising gasoline costs could further stoke inflation in the coming months. The levies were deemed unconstitutional late last month.

Expectations for a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate cut have been pushed back to September from July, according to LSEG-compiled data.

Signs of a softening jobs market are likely to further complicate the central bank's monetary policymaking.

"The big concern for the markets is to what extent this supply shock leads to higher inflation, weaker growth, interest rates that are higher than they would otherwise have been, and lower profitability," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.

At 7:54 a.m. EST, Dow E-minis were down 65 points, or 0.14%, and S&P 500 E-minis ticked down by 5.25 points, or 0.08%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 22.75 points, or 0.09%.

Wall Street's fear gauge, the CBOE volatility index, was down 0.28 points at 24.65.

Meanwhile, Oracle predicted that the AI data center boom will power its revenue above estimates well into 2027, sending its shares up 10% in premarket trading.

Semiconductor stocks such as Nvidia, Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices were marginally higher.

Travel stocks, which are sensitive to energy prices, were mixed on Wednesday. American Airlines edged up 0.9%, while cruise liner Carnival was up slightly.

Remarks from Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman are due later in the day and will be scrutinized for any policy direction.

Investors were also monitoring developments in the private credit space.

JPMorgan Chase marked down the value of certain loans held by private-credit groups and is tightening its lending to the sector, a report said.

Ares Management was down 1.2%, while Apollo Global was down modestly.

Among others, defense company AeroVironment dropped 10.5% after forecasting 2026 adjusted profit below estimates.

Nike gained 2.1% after Barclays upgraded the athletic wear maker to "overweight" from "equal-weight."