US equity futures were higher pre-bell Wednesday as traders digested the US November consumer price index report.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.2%, S&P 500 futures increased 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures were up 0.6%.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 1.2% at $73.04 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude up 1.3% at $69.48 per barrel.

The US November consumer price index report, released at 8:30 am ET, showed a 0.3% increase in consumer prices for November, in line with estimates compiled by Bloomberg, following 0.2% growth previously.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.01% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.8% lower, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.3% higher. Meanwhile, UK's FTSE 100 lost 0.9%, Germany's DAX 30 index gained 0.1%, France's CAC 40 gained 0.4% and Spain's IBEX 35 fell 0.3% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, Candel Therapeutics (CADL) shares climbed by more than 168% in premarket trading after the biopharmaceutical company said a phase 3 trial of CAN-2409 to treat localized prostate cancer met its primary endpoint.

On the losing side, Q32 Bio (QTTB) shares slumped 65% after the company said late Tuesday its phase 2a trial of a treatment candidate for atopic dermatitis failed to meet its primary endpoint. ImmunityBio (IBRX) dropped 31% after the company priced a 33.3-million-share stock offering at $3 per share for expected proceeds of about $100 million.